[IC] Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Rage.

[Skallagrim]

General Freedom whipped around at the sound, his hands clenched into huge mallets, ready to rain blows on whoever was responsible for the dying in the diamond exchange. However catching sight of the woman, fit though she may be, with her eight-arms and blue skin, her frame told the hulking hero that she probably couldn’t stand up to even a nonchalant backhand.

Pursing his lips he glanced at the carnage a moment, inhaling deeply he pointed around the shattered lobby, his voice a drawn out hiss, “You? You’re responsible for this . . . destruction?” Turning his gaze upon the woman he grunted, “Kali the Destroyer. I thought the Indian government had you locked away in a super-max after that fiasco in Bangkok. Kidnapping a U.N. delegation trying to work out a new nuclear treaty between India and Pakistan is frowned upon.” General Freedom stared at the woman, his hands raising all the while his eye sweeping the area, looking for anything indicating a trap.

“You are a foolish man General Freedom. I need no one to defeat you. In the past I have relied on incompetent minions. But today, today we shall see the death of America’s hero. Today you shall perish.” She practically spit out the words at him. Her eyes flashing with whorls of magical energy.

Kali was a beast in her own right, but often times she teamed with other villains who took the brunt of the physical battles. In their last encounter she had Ghastly and Zombi, a necrotic duo of black magic, vampirism and well in Zombi’s case, a pretty damn hot looking zombie girl.

“Yeah? I got to hand it to you kid. I thought you would have learned that ‘Merica is not where you want to be plying your tradecraft.”

General Freedom closed the gap between them in yard eating strides, stopping a mere twenty-one feet from her. Placing his hands akimbo he stared at her, the ZPE flared slightly around his fists, giving off a soft cobalt glow. The weight on the balls of his feet, balanced equally. Inhaling deeply before he spoke, he looked at her again and nodded, “So Kali what do you have for me this time? Unleash a fireball, maybe a death ray from an orbital platform, kick sand in my face? Say you and that other wanna be god, Set, still hanging out? I haven’t seen him since I slapped him silly in Las Vegas.”

It was tough having principles, but Steve was a man of principles and those guided his actions. He never enjoyed hitting a woman, and even when facing off against the Warped Witch, Kali the Destroyer or Medusa he had hesitated, even stayed his hand. These were some of his world’s fiercest and notorious villains and yet they were still women. It had been a bone of contention, even the Night Queen had commented on his antiquated ideals about females, villains included.

Ah well, it was clobberin’ time. In a flash, he had closed the distance between them, swinging a mighty fist at and then through a flickering holographic image.

“What the . . . ? You won’t get far Kali, I will. . .” It was then that General Freedom realized the dying people were gone, more holographic images. Sensing a trap he barely heard the woman, “I promised that one day I would find a way to kill you hero. That day has arrived.”

Whirling around, every sense tingling as the mightiest hero of Alternate Earth prepared himself for the trap.

[LeeRoy]

To Sigmund there wasn't any need for him to be here, there were plenty of other places that he could be right now that would be equally satisfying. A city in China, some backwoods town in Virginia, a mountain in Europe. It didn't quite matter, as long as he was destroying something he was content. But here we are, some bitch with too many arms had connived him into joining her for a short period of time. No reward was offered to him, aside from the satisfaction of blowing something incredibly powerful up. Unfortunately, it was a long con, and Sigmund fell right into her wily trap.

Without any warning she had gassed him, knocking him unconscious with a potent sleeping agent. When he awoke from the gas she had used, he was totally and wildly blind. Furious and blind, Sigmund thought that she had popped his other eye, for about three or so hours he was just howling in fury. Tugging at the bindings that were apparently holding him in place, it wasn't until the third hour that he noticed that he was beginning to see vague shapes. He realized that his eye wasn't popped, he had just been placed in a pitch black room.

So that was nice.

Now he was pissed off that he had been trapped in some dark enclosure and tied to the wall. "What? Torture? Try me you mutant bitch." Maybe it was psychological torture, because the silence that followed was even worse than any kind of torture that he could be feeling right about now. Another hour or so until even a hint of a noise, and it was some putz with a southern drawl. Muffled by a few feet of material, obviously not particularly strong or quality material. It didn't muffle "General Freedom" enough for Sigmund. Though it did let him know that Kali was still around, which was nice to know.

"I'm going to gut that bitch when I see her again." Sigmund grumbled under his breath just before the room began to rumble violently. The floor in front of General Freedom began to part like the Red Sea, light flooded Sigmund's cage as the portal opened. It was about this time that Sigmund noticed that his clothes had been changed. From a dingy torn outfit to a freshly washed outfit of a solid brown T-Shirt and Blue Jeans, no shoes or socks.

Kali had stripped him, why? Appearances? Is she recording this?

The pupil of the mangled warrior tightened to a pinprick as the light seared his eye, a hulking form of a man stood above him. Smaller than the swordsman sent after him once, but only just. No stink of godly power, it wasn't an agent of that Golden Cunt.

But just the look of this prick had already made Sigmund angry. "What kind of outfit is this? Captain America combined with Stargirl?"

These insults were spat as the chained warrior was raised from the ground below, the floor leveled out. Putting Freedom and Sigmund on the same plane, but leaving Sigmund chained to some manner of cross. "Well? What now? Did she tie me up just so I could die with my hand tied up? Is this it?" He snorted and hocked a snotwad on the ground before him. "This how you do? Get some cunt to catch me and then kill me?"

To Freedom it might not be wholly evident, but the chains are only superficially holding him in place. This likely wasn't part of Kali's plan, but the chains that bind him weren't enough to keep him down. It would take little effort to tear himself free, but for some reason, Sigmund wanted to see what this Star Spangled Asshole had to say.

[Skallagrim]

General Freedom stared at the man before him. The flood of profanity and anger just confirmed his identity, although his physical appearance was more than enough.

The Special Operations Command Enhanced Forces listed the Splatterer as a class 6 threat. The media called him the most destructive villain on Earth, but the officers of SOCEF simply called him the Emo Kid. Of course the situation that surrounded his affliction was terrible, but his reaction to his situation was an infantile and childish one. Now the Emo Kid was chained, probably with nary a link that could even slow him down, before be broke loose.

Steve shook his head; looking at the misshapen monstrosity he felt pity. He had seen a lot of soldiers broken in the last bloody war and myriad of regional conflicts. But this was beyond the pale, what’s worse; this man’s mind broke under the incredible strain of his suffering. There really was nothing to say. Nothing to do, the truth was he had allowed himself to be drawn into a pit of self-loathing.

While this man was a class 6 threat, Kali was another matter. Not only was she powerful, but she was coldly intelligent. While the Splatter was a force of nature, destroying all in his way, Kali was an extinction level event, bent on destroying the world.

Steve inhaled softly as he thought, “For all your boasting I don’t know what’s more pathetic, your temper tantrums or the fact that Kali managed to capture you.”

The cobalt blue energies flared around the hero, rippling across his body in a cascading field of energy. Chirping his microphone he spoke quietly, “Clear the area, and open a pathway for the Splatterer, let him leave the city. I repeat allow him to leave. Focus on Kali.”

With that he launched skyward, the energies surrounding him flaring in an amazing nimbus. Somewhere out there was Kali and whatever she was planning couldn’t be good. If she brought the Splatterer it was as a distraction. Something was afoot and Steve needed to find out what.

[LeeRoy]

If it were possible, one would have sworn that they could hear a vein burst inside of Sigmund's forehead. First off, he had been trapped by some dumb cunt who didn't know what he was going to happen to her when he finds her again. Second off, this colorful jackass was ignoring him. Pretty much everything in the entire universe made Sigmund angry, so him getting angry right now isn't particularly special. But this bastard just turned his back to someone who genuinely considers himself the most dangerous man in the world, and with a mile long list of evidence to back up that claim.

To be totally and wildly ignored in favor of someone that Sigmund was later going to find and actually tear in half, well, it wasn't smart. In fact, it was probably in Kali's plan for Freedom to totally ignore Sigmund. If that's the case, Kali's an incredibly intelligent woman.

Because if her plan was to make Freedom turn his back to Sigmund, which in turn would cause Sigmund to become unbelievably pissed, it worked out swimmingly.

Sigmund's body boiled over with a copper colored encasement, it shredded through the chains and caused Sigmund to lunge forward from his crucified posture. "Freedom come back here you Red White and Blue son of a bitch!" The words left his mouth with a bitter spark, the air literally crackling with his fury.

Through the aura his face spread, his mouth parting and his nostrils flaring upwards. With his expression stretching unnaturally wide, the red of his lips becoming visible through the violent haze that surrounded him.

If Kali's plan was to use Sigmund as a distraction, Sigmund would happily oblige if it would let him destroy this cock-sure All-American Reject!

A spheroid of explosives generated inside of his mouth, containing the maximum explosive force of an uncharged blast. The full kiloton of explosive might, right between his teeth.

With an audible crack, Sigmund snapped his mouth closed. Sending the blast flying forward towards General Freedom. Sigmund doesn't know how strong Freedom is, but he was absolutely certain that if this hit, it would disintegrate him on the spot.

That'll teach him not to turn his back on The Splatterer.

[Skallagrim]

So it was true, the Splatter was a dumb as he was ugly. By the time the behemoth spewed his cruse filled rant General Freedom was racing into the air. Having leaped into the air while the mindless brute was breaking free and throwing his childish tantrum, General Freedom was already rising at great speed. It was also true, this guy, for all his power was naught but a child.

However powerful the Splatterer thought he was; was of course of his perceptions. General Freedom had fought the extra-solar alien Fury to a standstill twice. That had been a brutal couple of fights, neither side giving way to the other. They had wrecked a goodly portion of Gotham in their first fight and completely demolished Philadelphia in their second.

The concussive wave from Sigmund’s teeth clacking was impressive, but all it did was cause the hero to tumble, crash into and through the World Finance Bank’s 18th floor. Finding himself tumbling towards the street on the other side of the building, General Freedom pumped more energy into his flying. With a tremendous roar he spiraled into a tight corkscrew, then flattening out into a trajectory that shot him down 10th avenue. Behind him several sonic booms erupted as he pulled up into a near vertical climb. Those below saw a brilliant cobalt blue star in the daytime skies.

“You just made a mistake bunky!” Earth’s mightiest hero muttered as he arched back in an Immelmann, “If you want to fight you got it.” The ZPE was racing around his fists, across his chest, down his back and roiling around his legs. Let’s see if the oaf can fly, General Freedom thought, if not he would be in for a rude lesson in tactical fighting.

[LeeRoy]

"If you want to run, run faster! You can't escape me, Stars'n'Stripes!" Another nickname for the All-American hero, this time around he wasn't even trying to be clever. He was just angry. Sigmund was trying to atomize him. Instead, he had managed to bump the hero out of his targetable range. A liquid rage actually dripped from him, crackling as it fell to the floor. His saliva had mixed with his energy as it fell from his mouth, a dribble thrown from his maw as he shouted.

A huge spark of light emerged behind Sigmund, a wall of explosive force shoved at his back. It nudged him forward, almost unsettling him from his standing posture. Another flash, he was forced to take a step forward. Sigmund threw himself onto all fours(I suppose all threes), his body dropping to the floor as he rushed forwards. With surprising dexterity he managed to run towards the door before setting off a massive explosion beneath himself. This blast catapulted him through the air, as he hurtled upwards he took in his surroundings. Spotting the hole left behind by Freedom.

"Peek-A-Boo! I've found you!" In mid air, another concussive wave erupted from behind him. Launching him diagonally downwards through the same hole left behind by his previous attack's aftermath. Windows across the entire building exploded with the sudden and explosive change in air pressure that followed in Sigmund's wake.

The cloaked warrior plowed into the pavement, chunks of concrete exploding from his impact crater. Thin trails of energy in the distance marked his foe's exit, leaving Sigmund in a crater of his own making with no reason to even be there.

An enormous extension of his own arm shot towards the nearest building, busting through two windows on separate floors. The fingers clenched on the ceiling and floor of the respected levels, crunching slightly with their grip.

"Just a little more! I'm coming for you!" Sigmund once more launched himself with an explosion, the extended arm serving as a lever to catapult him down the same street as General Freedom. While he wasn't the best flyer in the world, Sigmund could get around very efficiently.

[Skallagrim]

General Freedom raced down towards the city, suddenly slowing and finally stopping as he watched the freak show extend his single arm out to pull himself along. What the heck? Is there anything this abomination couldn’t do? Super strong, check. Projectable powers, check. Super-stretching body, that extends longer than six football fields, check. If the blue clad hero hadn’t seen it he would have laughed it off. But no, this Splatterer was a mishmash of powers, none that really seemed to mesh well, and much like his appearance they presented a horrid and confusing problem.

Accelerating again, the man considered Earth’s mightiest hero darted down 7th street towards the RIL-LA and Melon Hed financial building. His path would take him screaming down Broadway, but first he needed to create a brilliant light burst to catch the misshapen creature’s attention. Which he did. The shimmering ZPE flared in a nimbus of cobalt blue that filled the sky magnificently, causing those witnessing to gasp.

Hundreds of people, tourists and inhabitants alike took a myriad of photos on their phones. Already the police, in their riot gear, began to herd people off the streets for their own safety.

“Hey Ugly! This way!”

Then he was off, a sonic boom erupting behind him, leaving a swirling blue light lingering like a borealis effect. People in the office buildings had heard the previous sonic booms and looked out their office windows. Usually seeing a hero in the city meant one of two things. One, they were there for some official reason, like getting the key to the city. Or two, and more importantly, some threat that was beyond the ability of the local law enforcement to handle required their presence. Seeing the frantic activity on the streets below, they surmised it was the second. Hastily rushing towards the designated ‘Hero Shelters’, office workers began to shelter in place, praying that the fight would bypass their buildings.

The Ril-La and Melon Hed building was a magnificent piece with an amazing architectural history. It had withstood the destructive fight between General Freedom and the alien known as Fury. It had of course been designed by the famed Russian architect, Vordak, who had witnessed the terrible battles between super powered opponents during world war two.

The building stood 97 stories or 975 feet tall, and the 118 foot tall antennae spire gave it a total height of 1,093 feet. Was it the tallest building in the city? Of course not, but it was considered one of the safest. And it was towards this building that the idol of hundreds of millions raced.

The question is, would he be able to get there before big ugly blew another fuse and direct his temper tantrum at the civilian populous?

[LeeRoy]

Oh there he was, you know, the big ass building that he could have sworn was a thousand stories tall. Though, that was only the Big City Effect. The tower was nowhere near as tall as he previously thought, so Sigmund shot himself down the road towards it. Slamming into another building before leaping towards the Ril-La and Melon Hed building.

Sigmund clatters through the twenty-second floor window, barreling headlong into the tile flooring. Chunks of tiling and wood paneling exploded from his impact zone, shattering other windows on the other side of the building. As he recovered his composure from his impact, Sigmund started howling. A primal and unpleasant screech that belted forth from his mouth, the thick aura opening a mouth of its own. Giving him the unpleasant appearance of having a mouth within a mouth. Quite the unpleasant sight to go with an equally unpleasant noise.

Sigmund's upturned head and open mouth spelled out a terrible assault that he was preparing.

Something that he used for the express purpose of destroying everything in a single direction. Another sphere of explosive energy formed inside of his mouth, a loud humming noise permeated the air as he began to charge this projectile. The madman's chest heaved as he took in another sharp breath, Sigmund let out another howl.

The longer he charges this, the more damage it's going to do. But his goal is to cause fear, not to cause maximum damage. If someone had the ability to look at the layout of the entire building at once, they would notice that Sigmund was dead center on the 23rd floor. The elevator shaft being directly next to him, meaning that he was near some of this building's major supports.

The sphere glowed brightly, the air around it began crackling with smaller sparks and explosions.

Sigmund was going to level this building from the inside.

Or, blast Freedom, if Freedom made the mistake of trying to interrupt him.

(Explosive Charge; 1 Turn)

[Skallagrim]

Racing along the street, General Freedom saw the fleshy monstrosity lumbering along like a broken stretch Armstrong doll. Perfect. Seeing the thing rumble along towards the building he smiled. The great thing about Gotham is the quaint touches. One of those touches being the wooden water towers dating back to the 1800’s. In fact there are thousands of them that dot the skyline.

The oafish Splatterer reaching out, grabbing buildings and pulling his misshapen body along behind, although ugly it was relatively efficient. But it was a painful thing to watch. As the singularly focused monstrosity aimed for the Ril-La Melon Hed building, he slammed into a building which gave the hero what he had waited for.

Pointing his hands, the left at the building the oaf had collided with and the one next to it he discharged a burst of ZPE at each water tower. The moment the energy hit the struts, exploding them, causing the towers to spill over in the direction of the large, horrifically ugly man known as Splatterer. To be sure the water would cascade down in a torrential deluge splashing around, on and over the freak.

“Cool off hot head!”

As water filled the streets in a sudden flash flood, General Freedom hovered in the roundabout that lay before the large building merely watching the freak. Clearly the Splatterer wanted to be taken seriously, wanted to be considered a bad guy, someone to be feared. In actuality General Freedom felt pity for him. The swirling blue glow of ZPE raced dimly around the hero’s body.

Steve didn’t get it. He probably never would understand those who ached so badly to be considered a god they would sacrifice everything for it and in the end they were nothing more than what they were before. They often were envious and spiteful little children, acting out against those weaker than themselves, because they were unable to actually face the sad truth of their existence.

General Freedom hovered in the roundabout, nearly 400 feet in the air. Had the water falls had their effect, to direct the monstrous freak’s attention from the building and to the hero? Perhaps it had, perhaps not. If the tons of water had no effect, not even a distraction then he would have to lead the monster from the city towards the shore where innocents would not be endangered by a man crazed with his own morbid loathing.

That was the worth of a man wasn’t it? To face whatever hardships life gave you and stand up against them? To own up to mistakes and accept the consequences of those mistakes like a man. Sadly Steve knew that this misshapen, twisted man was unable to accept that. He was unable to face the fact that it was his own arrogance that had brought him to this state.

[LeeRoy]

The sphere in his mouth doubled in size as energy continued to build, peeling his own jaws back unnaturally wide as it continued to grow. Just as Sigmund was preparing to launch his explosive at the central support, a crashing and sloshing sound echoed through the air. He turned his ear toward the source of the sound, the sphere ceasing its charge due to his distraction. With a slight yelp, Sigmund's surprise was hilariously evident. A wall of water slammed into his body at about chest height, innitially releasing his footing for a moment before he caught himself on a nearby pillar.

Sigmund's weight causing the pillar to crack and bend, but not yield entirely. As the wall of water persisted it's flow, Sigmund looked towards the source. A hallway across from him, directly to his right. The madman turned his face towards the source of water and let loose his charged blast, aiming straight forward. It was a blind shot in the hopes of it striking his opponent or at least slowing the water for a moment.

It was almost two kilotons worth of explosive power, so hopefully it would accomplish something other than wanton destruction. Though, wanton destruction is nice too.

Where had all this water even come from!?

While Sigmund was growing angrier as time passed, he was also growing more confused. Why was the hero of earth, this big old American fuckwit refusing to fight him?

It's as though he thought Kali was a more pressing matter.

Maybe he didn't think that when Sigmund was finished spreading General Freedom across the pavement; That Sigmund wasn't going to do the exact same to Kali when he finds her again.

[Skallagrim]

The tremendous blast spewed detritus out from the magnificent building, surrounding the blue clad hero. Much of the swirling mass of destructive energy and debris exploding from the building was being deflected by the shimmering field of ZPE that surrounded the hero. The façade, the plaster, the office equipment all crashed into buildings across the way and even back a few blocks.

It was in effect a clusterfuck. It was something that the Splatterer was good at. Yet, through it the entirety of it, the hero known as General Freedom only swayed to and fro; having to concentrate to remain hovering in the air, his gaze never moving from the building.

The swirling ZPE coiled around his form, flaring and sparking briefly. Clearly he had to eliminate this minor leaguer and get on with business, the question was how. Since the Splatterer wasn’t exactly known for his intelligence, perhaps the key lay in that. Get the oaf from the building and beat him senseless in the streets.

Dropping to the ground, the beloved hero landed, his knees bending, his right hand touching the ground. Around him a dozen computers, office chairs, and desks lay scattered. Hundreds of thousands bits of paper swirled in the wind. Rising slowly he glanced upward ready to emit a challenge when a tremendous burst of magical energy lifted him off his feet, carrying him through two buildings and into an armored car, which he tipped over upon impact.

Kali had lured him with the beast and then struck. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, he clambered from the twisted wreck of metal. Through the hole he had created he spotted Kali. Gritting his teeth he began running back towards her when suddenly he was lifted into the air by her mystical arms.

“Clearly that dolt I brought to deal with you is just as ineffective as every other minion I throw against you. Wasting his time on destroying a building instead of actually trying to chase you down and kill you.” Kali spat in anger.

Using her magic, she bounced the blue clad hero against the street, a building, and then, finally against the tall metal pillar that stood as a sentinel before the Ril-La and Melon Hed building. That last blow caused him to wince in pain. The architect Vordak had built the building and its superstructure to withstand the mightiest heroes of World War II. This spire was made of nearly indestructible Carbondatium.

“I am pretty sure he was trying.” General Freedom gasped as he struggled to stand, releasing a burst of ZPE around him.

Breaking free of the witch, General Freedom rose again into the air, his attention focused on the woman below him. Rising he reached the level of the hole blasted by the Splatterer, however his attention was on Kali.

Preparing to discharge a ZPE bolt, the hero flared the distinct cobalt blue in a scintillating nimbus of cascading energies around his body.

“You made a big mistake Kali, you should have let Emo-Boy handle me before you showed yourself.” General Freedom said as he cocked back an arm, readying to fire a ZPE bolt at the woman frantically preparing a mystical shield.

[LeeRoy]

With the last of the water passing by him, Sigmund recovered his composure. Looking out the gap that he had left in the building, dust and debris fluttering in the wind outside. A sparking figure, clad in blue energies was flying in front of him. "You!" The Splatterer howled at General Freedom from inside of the building, taking a few steps away from the pillar he was leaning on.

At last, he was directly in Sigmunds' path. The Splatterer was about to do what he does best. Bending down to use his arm as a third leg, he lunged towards the hole in the building at full speed. Just as he was preparing to leap from the ledge and grapple Freedom in the air, he saw a figure below.

For a scarce second he couldn't recognize her, but when the numerous arms moved to raise her shield it became incredibly self evident. The focus from the hero immediately shifted to the villainous bitch, Sigmund reached his arm around the edge and locked himself in place.

"You should have kept running, Kali! I'm no pawn in your plan, you mutant freak! I just want people to die!" Sigmund let loose another kiloton blast from his mouth. A solid sphere of death that he let loose on Kali. Immediately drawing in another breath and charging a secondary blast. If the first one struck her, he was going to follow up with another and another. No charging, none of the pausing to check to see if she's alive.

No, Sigmund was tricked and humiliated by this woman. The Splatterer was going to blow her to a liquid mush on the Gotham streets before dealing with General Freedom.

He hadn't heard what Freedom said about it being a big mistake for her to show herself. But it was true, so very true.

[Skallagrim]

Before the world’s most beloved hero could unleash his trademark ZPE at Kali, the bellowing behemoth known as the Splatterer made his appearance. And was it a doozy. He unleased holy hell on the woman below, causing the street below to erupt in a roiling wave of destructive power, rippling over the next 10 blocks. To those in the buildings it would seem as if an earthquake rumbled under their feet.

Whipping around, General Freedom unleased the ZPE bolt he had crafted for Kali at the one-armed monstrosity that stood in the hole in the building.

“Back off Tripod! I’ll get to you in a minute.” General Freedom said as the bolt, this close to the freakish creature, erupted from his hand. Causing a sonic boom to echo around him as it ripped the air asunder. Should the bolt hit the beast it carried about a ton of kinetic energy, enough to force the beast back, hell it might rattle some sense into that misshapen head of his.

A quick glance below told him that Kali was alive and kicking as a shimmering magic ball rushed up to meet him. "Oh no!" Enveloping him, holding him aloft a moment before Kali slammed him to the street. The crater he made was nearly 20 feet deep and 60 feet in circumference.

The witch glanced upward, a grimace on her finely chiseled features, “I’ll leave you boys to play. I have other things to do.”

General Freedom lay there a moment as he sucked in air. He hated when she did that power slam of hers. It was one of her favorite tricks and it was a painful one. Slowly climbing to his feet, General Freedom shook his head. Rising slowly he looked for the woman but she was nowhere to be seen.

[LeeRoy]

The singular minded action of brutal aggression towards Kali was obviously a blind action. When Freedom let loose his blast on Sigmund it had absolutely no resistance to meet but his weight. It struck him with enough force to cripple a normal man, but it merely dislodged his footing. The ultra-heavyweight stumbled back from the ledge back into the building, putting his tremendous weight down on a wooden desk. Crushing it beneath his hindquarters, Sigmund fell to the floor with a loud clunk.

The mad warrior groaned, rubbing at his chest. Shaking off a bit of the cloud of anger that had blinded him. That bastard tried to take advantage of Kali as a distraction, fortune seems to smile on General Freedom, for now.

Sigmund thought back to a moment ago and sigh ed as he hoisted himself to his feet. He hadn't even managed to kill Kali with his assault, some sort of a shield or something. It was still a little hazy.

Taking his time to get back into the heat of battle, Sigmund looked around. Trying to get a good idea of where Freedom had landed. There was a large shape at the base of the building, so he assumed that it was the hero.

With a booming call, Sigmund shouted below. "You had better be General Freedom, otherwise this won't be fun!" Sigmund leaped from the building, hollering on the way down. While totally unlikely, he aimed to land feet first on Freedom.

Eh, it's hopeful, at least.

[Skallagrim]

General Freedom stood akimbo, surging ZPE swirling around his mighty frame as he searched for the eight-armed witch when a bellows came from above. Looking up, the blue clad hero gaped as the freak known as the Splatterer, leaped off the 22rd floor towards him.

This wouldn’t be a good thing for the already battered street. Even at 220 feet, the mass of the freakish creature would accelerate him to 82 miles per, reaching the spot where General Freedom stood in rough 3.78 seconds. The impact would generate roughly 8,789,909.10 joules or less than a ton of TNT. While the street probably could have survived the impact, the already weakened sewer and subway tunnels beneath it had been severely abused in the last few moments. This would be the proverbial straw breaking the camel’s back.

“What the hell? Can’t this freakish minor leaguer understand I don’t wanna play?” Murmured the hero as he leaped back, trailing a steamer of ZPE. Landing 100 feet away, General Freedom scooped up a chunk of the torn up concrete sidewalk and hurled it at the large, brutish creature.

The block, weighing several hundred pounds wouldn’t harm the Splatterer, hell’s bells looking at him, there wasn’t much anyone could do that was worse than what he had undergone already. The most General Freedom could hope for was to divert his fall away from the hole and towards a more stable area. It would be close of course; could he hit the falling man before he impacted the ground? Maybe, maybe not.

If not, well the street would probably give way since it had never been designed to withstand such a beating. Steve didn’t really want to fight the ugly thing in the first place. But he would have to fight, if nothing else to get him out of his way so he could focus on Kali. It was always the fucked up god wanna-be’s that gave him problems, not because they were any different than any other villain, but because they had insanely combined powers than made them look like nothing more than a high school kid’s min-maxed D&D character. That and their self-induced delusional genius intellect made them dangerous. The Sphinx was like that. A muscle bound giant of a man with magic and the ability to transform himself into his namesake. Whoo-hoo now he was a nut job, probably give this hot-head a run for his money on the emo front.

Back to the events at hand though. The first thing he had to do was make sure that if the street did give way, and it most likely would, is that he had to ensure that the surrounding buildings didn’t collapse because of damage to their foundations. Yeah that would be a really bad thing. There were too many people trapped in the buildings, and as good as he was he wouldn’t be able to save them all. How much time would he have after the impact? Probably not enough.

[LeeRoy]

A huge block of concrete and rebar slammed into his left side, a hot wave of pain passed through his body as it struck his exposed bone. Sigmund was sent careening from his course and back inside of the building's second floor. The block embedded itself into the structure and he was sent feet first into the floor where he stumbled and fell to the ground again, catching himself with his hand. A constant stinging and ringing ran through his body and ears, the block hadn't even caused him to bleed but just by scraping across the exposed bone it had left him in unreasonable pain.

Sigmund slapped the floor repeatedly, caving it in deeper and deeper with every strike before shoving himself back up to his feet and whipping around. His face beneath the cloak twisting into a fierce scowl, he knelt down slightly. The muscles in his legs tightened up as he readied for a full speed charge, the veins in his calves bulging as he tensed up.

With his first step, the floor cracked under the force released by his step. And he was off in full sprint with his right arm raised to cover his face.

Sigmund slammed into the still lodged block of concrete, dislodging it and sending it flying back in the direction that it came from.

Behind the flying block that was heading towards Freedom, Sigmund pursued in a full bodied leap. Both legs and one arm extended forward to catch himself if Freedom managed to intercept the block. This would serve to add his weight to the block's own, increasing the impact on Freedom if he caught it.

[Skallagrim]

General Freedom watched with interest as the block indeed diverted the mad monster known as the Splatterer vanish into the building again. The ZPE flared as it raced around his form in ever increasing loops. Fists balling up, the hero of millions took a quick glimpse around the area.

It probably was not the best idea considering the situation.

The block of concrete flew back, catching the hero square in the chest with enough force to carry him back a few hundred feet through the Apple store and out the back where he crashed into the metal trash bin with enough force to crumple it.

With a growl the hero stood up, the energy now moving across his body with such speed it appeared a blur, creating a slight, strobing and ghosting effect. Big ugly was loping along in his tripod way right towards the hero.

Whirling around, General Freedom grabbed the battered and broken trash bin, lifting it he spun around, hurling it towards the brute like it were a discus. Albeit it was a large and misshapen green discus that weighed in around 8oo lbs., with nothing more to it than a way to slow the brute for a second.

General Freedom had little doubt that the freakish creature would batter or otherwise avoid the large green object hurling towards him at nearly 60 miles per hour. As soon as the improvised object left his hands, the blue clad hero crouched low waiting for the one-armed ugly to get closer.

Of course he was conscious of the fact that the longer he focused on the Splatterer he would be exposing himself to the magical attacks of Kali, something that could prove problematic if she decided to take advantage of the situation.

“Come on bunky!” he growled.

[LeeRoy]

Bunky. There it was, there was the made up word that General Freedom's sort always used as a makeshift insult. Every cock-sure hero with a self-righteous belief system had one. The last guy that had tried to snuff Sigmund's pilot light had said something along the lines of "Darlin'." Way too personal, way out of line. If he had the ability to feel bad for what he did, he still wouldn't, because calling someone you're going to try and beat the hell out of 'Darling' is creepy.

But for Freedom, he said "Bunky." How he hated the people who slung these made up words around. So much for good people, they sacrifice everything and for what? Delaying the inevitable? They just want to go down in history as someone special, they're not standing up to any real monsters. Sigmund kills people, but at least he ends their lives. He doesn't put them into debt, starve them for being born poor, and cause so much emotional trauma that people kill themselves over it.

No, he isn't a hero. General Freedom is a dandy in a shiny suit with a cool name, someone with a sense of self-importance that dwarfs every other aspect of who they are. Being a hero is the ultimate vanity, claiming that you're above everyone else. That it is your job to save the lives of people who can't stand up for themselves.

The next part won't actually make any sense to Freedom, because Sigmund has been internally monologing this whole time. He didn't hear any of the prefacing commentary, leaving him with a disjointed statement of; "But that's just the natural order of things! Survival of the fittest! The weakest fall and the strongest stand!"

The weight slammed into his chest, accelerated by Freedom's throw. It glanced off of him and clattered to the ground, slowing his pace by only a few steps.

The Wildman dipped down, the cloak shimmering and fading for a moment. Revealing his twisted face to Freedom, killing intent burning hotly in his eyes. A twisted grin showing the gaps in his teeth. "You're disrupting the natural order, Freedom! I'm the apex predator, and you're my first hunt of the day!"

The fight was finally coming to blows, Sigmund lurched towards Freedom with his right hand prepared for a hard straight to Freedom's jaw. Punctuated by an explosive with enough force to punch a hole in a city bus. Sigmund's first move was to try and knock Freedom through the wall behind him.

[Skallagrim]

“Yeah Bunky? You peaked in high school didn’t you? Big man on campus until you entered the real world and found out you’re nothing more than a twisted tin horn wanna be god.” General Freedom sneered.

It was clear the big oaf had little if any real combat training, swinging his fist like most bullies, with little finesses and all muscle. General Freedom had crouched low waiting for such a move. After all he needed to see the actual combat skill of his opponent and now he knew it. Lock stock and barrel oafish brawler.

Muscles tensed as the lummox charged forward, his only hand cocked back ready to throw his weight into it, ready to plaster the hero of millions across the back wall. Ah well, it’s nice to have a dream isn’t it. The Splatterer moved forward, his punch aimed for the head of General Freedom, the hero of millions allowed his training to take over.

Stepping out with his right foot, drawing his body away from the oncoming right hand, the blue clad hero fired a deadly left jab under the oncoming right into the solar plexus of the gap-toothed freak, followed by a hammer blow to the left rib cage with his right fist. The combination was going to take advantage of the fact that the freak didn’t have a left arm to offer a guard. The left jab was nothing more than a ranging shot, designed to give General Freedom an idea of where his right hammer blow was going to hit.

The right hammer would hit under the where the left arm once had been, the twist and torque would be enough to break a normal villains rib cage, but General Freedom had a feeling this guy was a lot tougher. No this blow was to test his body since it would come full force, unmolested and uncontested, hitting with the force of a ten-ton wrecking ball.

[LeeRoy]

With no way to defend himself against either of General Freedom's punches, Sigmund teetered on his footing away from the hero. If his body weren't so damned dense, the breath would have been knocked cleanly from him, if not worse. Even with his cloak, Freedom's punch carried one hell of a wallop. It actually exposed some of Sigmund's clothes underneath it for a split second.

As he stumbled to the side he swung his right arm around and lifted up his left leg.

This caused his entire body to spin on his right heel, bringing the explosive that he had meant for his first strike back towards his foe. Like an olympic hammer tosser, Sigmund pitched the sphere of energy directly towards Freedom's gut.

Intending to slam his foe directly into the ground with it's explosive force.