Overture (Champion)

The truck had flung forward and enveloped Champion, covering him entirely with its metal framework. A normal person would have been crushed, even most metahumans heavily damaged; Champion however just shrugged it off as if he had been attacked with a large cardboard box. It cascaded into a wall where it was likely to stay lodged, bricks smashing all over the street. He looked to be advancing on Dissonance for another attack but unknown to him Blue Beam had reached his feet again and was charging up an attack. Dissonance hovered proudly, willing to act as a distraction for this blast. Then Dissonance was reminded of why he doesn’t work with a partner; most people were idiots. Blue Beam opened his mouth and gave everything away, allowing Champion an easy advantage over the man.

The attack was blocked forming a blue glow over the entire alleyway as it reflected off of the shield. Dissonance took advantage of Champions distraction and positioned himself better for another attack. He moved further down the alley and began preparing himself for a large attack. He turned his attention back to the fight that was ensuing and saw the Blue Beam had now been subdued, held in a headlock and struggling to get out. Suddenly the Egyptian held his sword in the air and rammed it through the side of the other man, a stream of crimson erupting into the air as he did so. Dissonance was surprised by this course of actions; this man who talked so freely about saving humanity yet happily struck down anybody that he didn’t agree with.

He turned back to where Dissonance once stood and said something, this was the time to attack. Dissonance reached out, releasing a strong high frequency blast into the alleyway that was designed to stun and seriously disorient anybody in its path. In a quick follow up he leapt high into the air and spread his arms wide, a sound wave erupting forth from his chest a loud scream, almost resembling a war cry, accompanying the blast as it left the man. It was a low frequency concussive blast, but the amplitude behind it was extremely strong, tearing at the walls and concrete as it travelled causing cracks and rubble to follow it along. Many of the guards still lying on the floor were launched by the attack, along with large portions of the glass that had been shattered. The blast was devastating but took its toll on Dissonance, who required some time to recharge following the extent of the attack.

The blast was devastating, the street left in absolute carnage. Injured, maimed, dead; who knew what had become of the humans left in its wake. The walls were mostly destroyed, bricks and shrapnel of all sorts flung from it’s place. The screams were deafening as Champion was beaten and broken by the relentless barrage of infrasound waves. Bones and flesh were broken, organs burned beyond recognition; it was a blast that would not only have killed a regular human but would have completely obliterated them.

Held in place by his sword dug in the ground Champion was clinging on for his life, the brutal onslaught having damaged him heavily even with his superhuman capabilities. Dissonance now weakened fell to a knee on the ground, he could hear his heart thumping in his chest attempting to make up for the damage he had done to his own body with the blast. He looked up to see the Egyptian holding his sword, blood still slowly dripping from mouth and nose. He allowed himself a brief moment of joy as he considered his foe to be well and truly beaten. The moment was cut short by a realisation of what was happening however, as Champion’s hand reached the top of his sword. A brilliant light erupted from it capturing the hero in it’s midst. A golden glow illuminating the alley as it surrounded the incredibly injured man.
“No…” Dissonance spoke with disbelief as he raised a palm towards the man. He fired a pulse but in his weakened state it dissipated before ever getting close to him.

As the hero again found his feet, he started to move towards Dissonance with his sword held outstretched in front of him. Placing the tip centimetres from his face he looked down upon him and spoke.
“Do you yield?”
Dissonance still faced the ground, the golden light almost too much for him to look at. He found it ridiculous and yet strangely impressive that this ‘boy’ had taken such a beating and fought back to his feet. There was no way Dissonance would even want to kill him now, foolish as he was. A slow deep laugh began to form in his throat, gaining strength as it continued. Some would have described it as a madman’s laugh, but Dissonance understood it fully. He struggled up to his feet and stood strong practically face to face with the hero. His power would recover he just needed time.

“Nice trick” he said finishing his laughter. Behind his back was a solitary piece of glass that he had picked up off the floor. He figured the sword needed to recharge somehow and so he would use this to his advantage. With a swift movement he swung round the glass attempting to plant it firmly in the man’s side, should this work he would kick the man backward to create a little distance and raise his hand in front of him, poised to fire a small precise blast directly in to his skull, if this worked the man could lose all muscular control that, no matter how temporarily, would give Dissonance a chance to escape with Powercut; the only other person left standing.

He had lost his way. Dissonance had gotten too caught up in beating Champion and had foolishly kept up a losing battle. Even as he undertook his course of action he realised he should have run, accepted defeat and used his newfound knowledge to best prepare himself for any future encounters. However, these thoughts were now futile, it was too late and he had to follow his convictions through. He felt the kick connect with the hero’s ribs and momentarily knock him backwards, haphazardly caught up in the moment he thrust his hand forward paying no heed to any consequences. This was his biggest mistake of all.

In a flash of gold everything seemed to move in slow motion. He felt the cold steel of the hero’s blade as it slid through flesh and bone as if it were little more than a leaf on a tree. A stream of crimson followed the blades golden glow as the fingers were removed from the hand to which they belonged. It was a clean slice, removing the best part of three of Dissonance’s digits, tearing at the glove and maiming the man beneath. The shock was such that dissonance fell to his knees clutching at his hand, he didn’t make a sound for the entire duration of the events that transpired. It was as if momentarily he had blacked out because by time what was going on settled in the hero had tied of his wound and was standing over him. He was saying something but Dissonance was not listening, pain and shock only minor emotions compared to the rage that was boiling inside of him. He could feel himself losing control of his power and at this point of time he was entirely unsure if he wanted to even try and tame it.

“NO!” He shouted whilst slamming what remained of his hands down and releasing a single pulse of pure power and rage in all directions. He returned to his feet and looked around at the surrounding area, most of the alleyway was completely destroyed. Powercut had finally run realising he was of no use to the situation and would probably end up severely injured. The other two were still out as well: useless. He knew if he stayed he would likely end up dead, his injury was too severe and needed tending to immediately. He could also hear sirens coming from behind him at this point, slow response from the police that was finally making its entrance. He began to levitate just a few feet off the ground. He had no words left for the hero, he had been defeated today, and there was nothing he could do about that now.

He turned to face the now arriving police and decided to make his grand exit. He hit top speed as he began to soar down the alley and took a low dive between the police cars. To ensure that the hero would not attempt to follow him he rolled and fired a blast, which sent one of the cars hurtling into the air, cascading down the alley at near break-neck speed. With a final look back at the alley he launched himself directly upwards in excess of 300 miles per hour before arcing off and blasting himself away, where he could repair the damage that had been done by the events of the day he had lived through. Champion’s was not a face that he would forget in a hurry.

"NO!"

His pain broke Champion's heart. Still, he hardened his resolve and reassured himself that he had done the right thing. He was dangerous, he needed to be stopped before he caused even more harm to the people in the allyway and, gods forbid, the people outside of it. Champion took a step forward in order to try and comfort the distraught Dissonance but he lashed out with an ear rupturing explosion. A car was sent through the air towards Champion, who held out both his arms and caught it, however; the change in momentum force him to spin to the floor in a cloud of dust. Quickly forcing himself to his feet he ran to apprehend Dissonance once again but was stopped by a chunk off the wall hitting his head. The rock broke on impact but the dirt it had uprooted was a more than competent smoke screen, which slowly withered away - revealing that the wounded orchestrator of terror had escaped.

Reaching for the golden rope around his waist, Champion turned around and looked at the alley with a long sigh. So much needless destruction, and so many people were wounded. They didn't deserve it. The rope was pulled from his waist, whipped through the air before it fell to his side. He started walking forward, glass crunching beneath his feet.

When the police finally made it into the allyway they were created with an unconcious Smog and Bluebeam tied together with shimmering golden rope and the hero standing over them both, sword and shield strapped to his strapping back, arms folded over his pecs. The immediately moved in to apprehend the pair and a thought occured to Champion. There had been three. Shaking his head, he dismissed the worry. He looked far too young for jail, and I'm sure he'll turn his life around after seeing what happens to criminals whenever I get my hands on them. Looking to the side, he was snapped back to the present by a police officer extending his hand for a shake.

"Thank you, um..."
"Champion."
"Thank you, Champion. These two are very dangerous."
Champion chuckled. "I know."
The police officer laughed with him, before looking around at the scene. Amublances had pulled up and most of the wounded were being taken to the nearest hospital for treatment, although something was bugging the officer.
"Weren't there three prisoners? And that guy who helped them escape?"
Champion sighed, quietly ashamed that he had let them escape.
"They... got away."
Much to his surprise, the police officer did not seem to be upset by this news.
"Well; atleast we got these two."
When he said that, Champion couldn't help but feel better. They had gotten these two, which meant two less villains on the streets. He hadn't failed - he'd just been less successful than he'd hoped.

After the metahuman duo were loaded into another police van and Champion was given his rope back, he began to make his way from the alleyway. As usual, there was a crowd of paparazi and citizens who were drawn by the noise, police and destruction. Some of them cheered when Champion walked towards them, some remained silent but interested and some news crews tried to push forward to get questions. He answered a few of them, albeit with little interest. 'What's your name, Who did this, Did they escape' the usual kind of inquiries. But Champion's mind was otherwise occupied with the image of the sonokinetic.

He was but one man, and had managed to decimate an entire detachment of the police and nearly obliterate an allyway with little more than his voice. How much more was he capable off? He clearly had a vendetta against all of mankind and Champion would be there everytime he tried to destroy them. One thing was certain - Dissonance’s was not a face that he would forget in a hurry.

done