[center][img]http://s22.postimg.org/jtr04y1ht/War_Pulse_Word_Art.png[/img][/center]

The mercenary had tagged along with the raiding party as the rearguard for the team’s formation, seemingly recovered from his damaging confession during the meetings, returning to his signature snarky demeanor.  Though this time he did not have Warden on his comm link, as the information broker had politely recused himself from the operation citing that he had ‘other matters to take care of’, which left War-Pulse with nobody to talk to but his teammates, a luxury that he fully abused.

[color=0072bc]“Hey, did we ever decide what we’re calling this task force?”[/color]  War-Pulse quietly asked the otherwise somber crowd  who were keeping their distance from the dangerous mercenary they were now shoehorned into partnering with. [color=0072bc]“I mean, let’s not kid ourselves, this whole team up situation is becoming super common with a new superpower rising their head every other week. You guys are going to have to entertain the idea you may be a unified force for more than one instance.  You might as well get a cool squad name out of it, am I right?  You don’t want the opposition coming up with a name, because they’ll just call you something like ‘those bunch of assholes’.  I mean, what would you folks want to go by?  Justice Force?  Power Squad?  Icon and the Superpals?”  [/color]

Of course, before anyone got to shut the silver-clad warrior up, they were interrupted by the words of the Silver Sorceress.

[color=0072bc]“Eh, y’know what?  We’ll talk about it after we wipe the floor with these goons.”[/color]  War-Pulse murmured, his stance changing to engage the de-cloaking hostiles as they came.  They had walked straight into an ambush, the Silver Sorceress already messing with their heads as the familiar adversaries came into view.  The spider was absent from view, but the Shark, Effigy, Silver Sorceress, and a green skinned young woman were in full view.  They had the team surrounded, and to add to that the green woman had planted something in the ground, causing massive Venus flytraps to box them in.

[color=0072bc]“Are you kidding me?  You think we’re going to be taken out by the Beastie Boys and foliage?”[/color]  The mercenary blurted out.  [color=0072bc]“You Pax Metamorons couldn’t take me down for good the first time, and a few plants ain’t going to change that!”[/color]

Of course, War-Pulse’s trash talk was immediately followed up by a web-line dragging Bast out of formation, causing Lyger to chase after her.  Thunderbolt made his way for the Shark, while Radience seemed to target the flytraps and the green woman and White Witch faced off with her magical similarly colored counterpart. 

Which of course left War-Pulse with his doppelganger, who was making a direct b-line for the mercenary, allowing the kinetic powers to launch towards War-Pulse with a fist cocked back to deliver a solid punch towards War-Pulse.  The merc was more than ready for his copycat, however, as he shifted his weight to avoid the heavy blow, getting to Effigy’s back and getting a hold of his collar.

[color=0072bc]“Again?  Of all the people here, you copy me [i]again?![/i]” [/color] Said an annoyed War-Pulse as he turned his hips into a throw, utilizing Effigy’s momentum to send him flying through the air, the copycat impacting into an old, leftover set of large factory machinery causing the room to momentarily erupt in sparks and a small explosion to reveal the wires in the building were still functional.  [color=0072bc]“I know you must be a big fan of those ‘who wore it better’ articles in the magazines in your local grocery store, but I’m telling you, it doesn’t work the same with powers.  I’m the only real War-Pulse here!”[/color]

The answer came in the form of a large metal storage chamber out of the smoke, colliding into the mercenary with thunderous impact and driving him backwards into another set of abandoned electrical equipment, cratering into the concrete flooring upon his landing.

“I beg to differ.” The clone replied, rocketing out from his crash point to tackle War-Pulse as he got to his feet, the impact once more shaking the very building as the two bodies were sent hurtling through the lab, slamming through a series of pipes and walkways before finally dropping into an old processing machine, the metal shredding as if it were made of tin foil as the two combatants tore straight through it into the ground with a horrendous crash, once more shaking the very building as the ground cratered inward upon impact.  The Force of Nature now found himself pinned underneath his double, who was very quickly smashing his fists down upon him, forcing the mercenary to bring his arms up to avoid taking blows directly to the face. “If anything, I’m the new, improved version, a step up from the wannabe that came before me!”  The copy shouted, punctuating his comments with strikes. “Plus, I don’t have that brutish attitude of the original!  Nor the baggage, apparently, after what the Sorceress did to you showed everyone what a nutcase you [i]really[/i] are.”

War-Pulse had to think fast, he was running out of options and he was pinned to the floor, his defense would only last so long before his copy would land some solid shots to the face.  Keeping a tight guard with one hand, he let a free hand reach out to find something he could get an edge with.  It took a second, but eventually his hands wrapped around a large and heavy lead pipe, just in the nick of time as another heavy fist came crashing down.  With a mighty swing, the mercenary slammed the pipe into his doppelganger's side, the audible ringing echoing through the laboratory as the metal wrapped around Effigy from the sheer force that came from the strike.  Of course, it wasn’t enough to move War-Pulse’s attacker, but it was more than enough to create an opening.  Without wasting a beat, the Force of Nature placed both hands on his opponent’s chest, both hands lighting up with kinetic power.

[color=0072bc]“Buddy, you got my powers, but you don’t know a goddamn thing about being me.”[/color]  War-Pulse quipped, the explosive burst of energy flinging Effigy backwards, bouncing off of a few metal walkways before coming to a thunderous landing on the ground, rock and debris kicking up as he came to a halt along the ground.  Both men now had some breathing room, both taking a moment to groggily stand to their feet.  Of course, the original was more than happy to motion with his hands to bring the fight back to him. [color=0072bc]“Bring it you cheap copy!  Lemme show you what it is to be War-Pulse!”[/color]

Effigy was more than happy to oblige, a burst of energy firing off from his hands as he charged, forcing War-Pulse to fire energy back to cancel it out.  The two kinetic blasts met in the air and exploded, the air distorting around the two as they exploded, ripping through the ground below them as the two men clashed.  Of course, this was where the two men’s actual skill differed, as inheriting Pulse’s power clearly didn’t inherit his fighting skills.  Try as Effigy might, he was outmatched in a direct hand-to-hand conflict, every punch blocked or sidestepped, met with thunderous shots to his body and face by the veteran fighter.  Sure, Effigy got a few good shots in, but not without brutal punishments by the brawler.  Kicks to the legs and ribs, forearms to the temple, punches to the gut and face, each hit sending a shockwave through the air from the diabolical impacts.  It did not take long for Effigy to realize that he was not going to keep up a hand-to-hand confrontation with the kinetic brawler.

Of course, that did not mean the fight was over.  Hopping back to gain some distance, Effigy quickly unleashed another blast of energy, this time at a close enough range where the mercenary did not have the time to react with anything else but another guard.  The kinetic pulse ripped through the air, pulverizing the ground below it as it impacted with the mercenary, slamming into him hard and sending him careening into more factory equipment, a large old steel reservoir collapsing onto the landing point, causing dust and debris to kick up as the metal crashing rang out through the building.

As the dust began to settle, an audible groan came from the silver-clad warrior as he shoved the metal piping and rebar off of his body, trying to get to his feet very slowly.  Of course, Effigy was on him before he even got that far, a vice-like grip snapping to his collar and ripping him from his landing spot.  He felt himself hoisted to his feet, turning to face his attacker, who had a fistful of kinetic energy crackling in his other hand, cocked back to deliver a devastating kinetic punch to War-Pulse’s face.

“Look like you ain’t so hot after all, wannabe.”  Effigy mocked, reveling in the upper hand he currently had. “After I’m done with you, your friends are going to be a walk in the park.  Any last words?”

[color=0072bc]“Yeah...you really shouldn’t shit-talk someone who knows your weaknesses.”[/color]  War-Pulse said, bringing a forearm down on Effigy’s elbow joint, pulling him in to deliver a vicious kinetic headbutt to the bridge of his nose, energy rocketing out of the back of his head.  Of course, the doppelganger was stunned, but not out, as he tried to throw the kinetic haymaker anyway.  His blow only found air, however, as the mercenary had dropped underneath the strike, retaliating with a kinetic right hook of his own, causing a small distorted explosion when impacting with Effigy’s weakness.

[color=0072bc]“You see, the reality of the situation is that you're right, my powers make us ridiculously powerful and handsome, to the point you’d need a damned super-army to take us down.  This puts both of us at a point where physical damage isn't going to put us down for longer than a few minutes at best.”[/color] The merc explained, delivering a solid front thrust kick to Effigy’s shin, forcing him to drop down to one knee momentarily, with War-Pulse still maintaining a grip on Effigy’s arm as he pivoted around his opponent.  With a twist of the arm, War-Pulse managed to drive Effigy forward, setting him up for a stunning snap kick to the chest, followed by a firearm to Effigy’s elbow joint to keep him pinned down. [color=0072bc]“However, you should know that ain't a natural occurrence, that we feed on kinetic energy around us to survive.  Kinetic energy is what keeps our heart pumping and our cells supercharged to distract from the fact that we have muscular dystrophy.”[/color]

As he spoke, the hands wrapped around Effigy began to glow with blue light along with Effigy’s body.  War-Pulse cleverly was keeping Effigy stunned with taunts, jeers, and attacks while he was sapping the copycat dry of his kinetic energy.  His opponent buckled, his eyes wide as his power was siphoned off by the brute, every attempt to break free or absorb his energy back becoming increasingly weaker as the mercenary drove an elbow into his collarbone to keep him off balance.

[color=0072bc]“Which means without energy flowing through your skin and muscles, you’re just a fragile cripple with a glass jaw, something that an energy vampire like myself can take advantage off.  And before you think ‘Hey, I can just switch forms to get out of this’, think about how long it would take you to assume a different form and then think about how long it would take me to rip you into pieces like tissue paper.”[/color]

Effigy couldn't respond, he was already having a tough time standing and breathing as another heavy shot dropped him back down to his knees.  As the shapeshifter groggily tried to rise, he found War-Pulse’s hand on his head, yanking him back to and upstanding position, long enough for the mercenary to hiss into his ear.

[color=0072bc]“Like I said before; you might have my powers, but that sure is a hell of a lot different from being me.”[/color]

As he spoke, an explosion rocked the ceiling above the two.  Apparently Thunderbolt had called for backup, as a whole new trio of heroes appeared and were already approaching to assist his fight against Effigy.

[color=0072bc]“The speedsters?  Well the hot little firecracker was Boom and the clean-cut brother was Thunderbolt.”[/color]  He shouted back to Skull-Thrasher, lifting the heavy body of Effigy in front of him. [color=0072bc]“And this is a cheap knockoff of an otherwise perfect first edition War-Pulse.  Why don’t the group of you show him what the law does to counterfeits?!”[/color]