"We're closing in. We should be there soon," Richie said, speaking into the tiny communicator embedded into the inside of his helmet.

"Goddamn it. And I was starting to enjoy riding around in this speeder! Sorry, I mean hover bike... or whatever Zakarr called it." Skull-Man's voice echoed over the speaker, just above the loud whir of powerful engines that held his vehicle aloft. His scarf caught the wind, billowing behind him as he raced across the empty sky, his eyes fixated on the skyline ahead of them.

The tip of the spire could be seen off in the distance just over the sickly grey, dusty horizon. The towering, gunmetal structure rose high up into the silver sky, a bright, pulsating blue light firing upwards from it and piercing the clouds above. The glistening light seemed to hum rhythmically, flashing brightly every few seconds before settling down. It was a remarkable structure of enormous size, and seemed to have been forced into the ground like some kind of enormous spear rather than constructed in its place, made evident by the huge cracks in the earth around its base, the chasms seemingly going down for miles.

"How're you doing back there?" Richie asked, turning his head over his shoulder.

He could see the tiniest spec of Skull-Man off in the distance, riding on his land speeder that Zakarr had donated to them (although Richie was not entirely sure that Zakarr was even aware Skull-Man had taken it). It looked like an oversized motorbike with the wheels torn off and it struggled to keep up with Richie's own glider, but it was an impressive design none the less.

Richie was moving at an incredible speed, about a hundred feet off of the ground atop his glider, which he piloted effortlessly. For him this was as thoughtless as breathing. The speed he was managing to maintain was impressive though even for his own designs, thanks to the improvements he had made aboard Zakarr's ship. Some of the technology he had incorporated into it was beyond even his knowledge, but the ship's crew had been eager to help. Even he did not know the limits of his glider now, and to make sure Skull-Man to keep up he had yet to find the opportunity to test it, although he anticipated that he might get the chance soon.

Skull-Man was enjoying the relatively relaxing trip, his own thoughts were enough to entertain him over the roar of the engines. "Doing just fiiine," he chimed.

He looked down to his suit as he piloted the bike. The usual reds and blacks of his simple costume had been replaced with deep greys and glistening blue lights. Fine, advanced technology lined his suit, protecting his body and enhancing his senses... every sight and sound set his mind on fire. He tugged gently at the costume, finding it uncomfortable beyond belief.

"This new outfit is sooo comfy," he continued, sarcasm ringing from his voice. "It's like I'm wearing nothing at all... nothing at all... nothing at-"

"Please stop," Richie interupted, immediately dropping speed so that Skull-Man could catch up to him.

The two of them looked up to the large spire as it drew closer. It had been a long time since he'd infiltrate a place, Skull-Man thought. It was usually more fun to just use the front door. But he remembered the basics, and he was sure that together the two of them could get themselves out of any kind of sticky situation. "How do you think the others are holding up? I mean, I know that Mr "[i]ET-if-he-worked-out[/i]" is going to be fine, especially since he has Bruce Lee ninja and lil' missy fire starter with him. Natasha? I know she can handle this kind of stuff without breaking a sweat, but that Walter guy, I know nothing of him! Can't even think of a good nickname too!" Skull-Man rambled, the spire getting closer and closer in view.

"He seems competant enough," Richie replied. "Unusual that he managed to slip past my rader though, but that counts for something; he must be good at keeping low. I'll have to talk with him proper once this is all ove-"

It was then a stray beam almost struck Skull-Man from afar. The beam cut through the air, a single straight beam of blue energy that appeared for the briefest moment then vanished again. It missed, carving a hole through the ground beneath them almost effortlessly. Skull-Man had narrowly ducked out of it, swerving out of the way just in time, as a second beam flew past and struck the side of his speeder. It tore away a piece of metal attached to the side; a superficial wound, but it made the two no less comfortable

 "Hey Herc! We've got company!" Skull-Man shouted towards his partner, as he revved the engines and picked up speed. He turned and strafed away from his partner, keeping a distance between the two and giving them each plenty of room to move. "Got a location?"
 
Richie's eyes, assisted by the glistening blue goggles he wore that homed in and magnified the image, were already locked on their target. "Over there, on the spire. About half way up. Marking it on your ma-"

Another shot flew past, narrowly missing Richie by barely an inch. "Marking it on your map. C'mon, let's go!"

He saw, resting on a small ledge on the spire, a singular figure. It was difficult to make them out this far away, but from their shape he could see an enormous rifle, and unusual technology that was clearly alien. Richie was too concerned with the rifle fire to focus on it properly, and he tucked himself in close to his glider, gripped the front edge, and turned into a tight roll, picking up enormous speed as he did so.

"I'm going to get in close and stop them from firing. Keep an eye out for any more snipers!"

"You got it, captain!" Skull-Man replied with his best impression of a stereotypical soldier.

He turned tightly and moved away from Ritchie, hoping to draw his attention away from his partner and give him an opportunity to get in close. The laser shots continued to fire on spot despitee Skull-Man's swift, erratic movements, striking either through dumb luck or perfectly skill beyond what any human could accomplish. He looked up to get a better look at the spire, watching as it came closer and closer. The shots continued in a fierce barrage, one after another, and while Skull-Man was nimble, it was not long until one hit him off the speeder. He tumbled around like rag doll, thrown from his perch and falling at incredible speak, his arms and legs loose and flopping as he dropped.

"This is gonna hu-"

Richie saw the eruption of dust and stone as his companion fell. For a moment he felt sickened, but only from imagining the state his body would be in for a little while. All broken bones and torn muscle. He had no fear of Skull-Man's safety; he could not die after all. Instead he honed in on the sniper, getting in closer and closer at break-neck speed... As his glider skimmed the outer surface of the tower, twisting his entire body to ride sideways across it, Richie leapt from his vehicle and thrust his leg outwards, planting a single mighty kick in the sniper's jaw. Another figure pulled itself out from the building to assist, only to be struck by the glider which flew on ahead of them all, dragging the figure out and knocking him off of the tower. Richie landed like a spider on the sniper's perch, low to the ground and very stable, before slowly rising into a standing position, arms raised to protect himself.

The sniper took the hit with surprising grace, stumbling but not falling, and in the time it took Richie to recompose himself the being had put away his rather large rifle and stood to oppose the human before him. He spoke over a communicator in a language that took a moment for Richie's to process. "- - - take him out. I will deal with this one," his voice carrying an insect-like click to every word.

As he spoke a dozen figures errupted from the spire like a swarm of insects. They were indeed insectoid in appearance, and leapt from the spire to descend, gliding through the sky with tiny jets mounted to the back of their gear much like a jetpack.

Richie smiled, invisible through his mask. He knew Skull-Man could take them... but he tapped his forearm, running fingers across tiny, invisible buttons, and his glider suddenly changed course. It turned, smacking into several of the gliding insects that had their sights set on Skull-Man, using it like a missile to crash into them and knock them off course. At least one lost complete control, careening into the ground at such force that there was nothing left when he impacted.

"So, just you and me?" Richie asked, as he stepped forward and threw a single, swift punch.

The insect figure ducked with surprising agility under his swing and quickly moved in closer to Richie, throwing a leg sweep that Richie managed to avoid with a single jump. "Yes, Lord Malus will be pleased to finally have Zakarr's head, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I brought yours to him as well!" he replied, his tone twisted and sadistic.

"So what do I call you?" Richie replied, unleashing a flurry of punches with each of his four arms, slamming into the creature's chest with force that surprised the entity. "I'm Hercules. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Call me Miasma" he moved forward with speed and ferocity as he threw another punch, blocked easily by Hercules, but enough to force Richie back several feet with the sheer force of the punch. Miasma's movements were sharp, sudden, and robotic, more like those  those of an insect than a puppet. Miasma stepped backwards, his arm jerking outwards and his claw-like fingers latching onto a metal spear-like object that rested on his back. He wrenched it free and the staff lit up with glistening energy, sickening sharp blades emerging from both sides, searing the very air around them.

Although Miasma's stance was immediately aggressive, Richie almost seemed to relax hearing his name. "Can't say I've heard the name, but you're not the first of Malus' soldiers I've knocked off their high horse and I can guarantee you that you won't be the last". He cracked all four of his knuckles as if toying with his opponent.

Miasma charged at the mocking display, thrusting the voulge at Richie's abdoment and then swiping upwards, hoping to cleave him in two, but Hercules brought an arm down and struck the side of the polearm, knocking it away and then slamming his foot into Miasma's chest, knocking him backwards. "Humans are... surprisingly agile..." Miasma hissed.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Miasma's eyes carefully examined Hercules even as he moved to his left at speed. "You can take that one to the grave" he hissed, coming in for another thrust with his blade. Hercules sidestepped, grabbing hold of the shaft and pulling it back in an attempt to throw Miasma off, but the insectoid threw a swift and powerful forward kick that landed square in Richie's chest and he was thrown back, dropped to the ground and tumbling back to the edge of the platform. His armoured fingers clutched onto a metal ridge along the ground, slowing himself just enough to not fall off of the edge entirely. Miasma strode forward, blade aimed at Richie's neck before swinging it around, smashing the flat end into Richie's face. His helmet was knocked aside, tumbling to the ground, and a clear bruise began to form across the side of his face. Richie fell backwards again, his legs slipping off the side and his hands immediately grasping out for something to hold onto. 

"You aren't going to to get to the generator as easy as you might of thought," Miasma mocked, his voice still tinged with a strange, insect-like hiss.

Miasma inspected the face of the strange, mutant human that clung for his dear life, and was surprised to find no evidence of fear or worry. "What are you smiling at, human?" he asked, his chitinous face twisting into what one could only assume was confusion.

"Just wondering if any of your species can fly." He sneered, brought both of his legs up to the base of the platform, and he pushed off he let go, throwing himself away from the ledge and into the sudden descent.

Down on the ground, Skull-Man's body was slowly reconstructing itself. The damage would be irrepairable if he were any other human, but for him it was just another Tuesday. Bones slowly popped back into place and skin stiched itself back together. His neck, twisted around at a full one-eighty degrees, a position that would've killed a man instantly, slowly raveled back into place. All the while Skull-Man pulled himself back up, ignoring the pain as he put weight on broken limbs that slowly repaired themselves. He looked around, his vision slowly starting to come back, to see the ruined remains of his speeder.

"Damni-"

He barely had time to continue as a spear of plasma flew through the air, striking his shoulder, and throwing him onto his back.

Skull-Man dusted himself off, grateful that the new suit was barely scratched even from the immense blow, if only because it was easier to heal a bruise than it was a missing limb. "Well that was a tumble and a half," he groaned, stumbling back up onto his feet."Time to help ole' Herc on pest control it seems. Not bad for a warm up for an exterminator of pests such as myself. Could use a big can of bug spray though," he continued to muse.

The insectoid creatures that swarmed around him showed no signs of intelligence like Miasma did, acting more like feral wild beasts seeking the nearest target. He would not have been surprised if Miasma was the one in control of these creatures, mindless slaves no better than mere machines. One of them lunged at Skull-Man but with a side step he was behind the clumsy creature. He grabbed it by the neck and twisted his body sharply, it's entire head twisting with him and with a sickening crack its whole body went limp.

His hand fished for his side and wrenched free a pistol, and he fired twice into the chest of another and fired the third at its head, and it fell to the floor. He dropped the one he clutched tightly and it fell to the floor all the same. The others looked on, desperate to find any sign of weakness or hesitation in Skull-Man's actions, their expressions seemingly unchanged even as they saw their companions die.

 "Well then," Skull-Man muttered. "I guess I can go a little rougher with you guys. If you guys don't feel pain, fear, or worry, then I can tear you all to pieces!"
 
 The nearest insectoid lunged just as the previous one did, but Skull-Man rolled into its lunch and brought his knee up sharply straight into its head, the bone-like carapace crunching from blow. The limp body fell, and as another came running forwards he casually placed the barrel of his pistol against the underside of its jaw and fired, it too falling limp and a mess of thick, greenish blood splattering against the side of Skull-Man's mask. "That's four down already, and I see eight of you left. Let's see if the rest of you can put up a better fight!" Skull Man breathed out, preparing himself to analyse the situation, his focus concentrated upon the eight insectoids ready to tear him apart. 
 
As two leaped towards him in unison, Skull-Man rolled back away from the two of them and out of the way, pulling his second pistol from his belt and bringing both up to take aim and pulling the trigger. The bullets pierced their chitin skulls, and they both dropped an instant. Skull-Man pushed off from the ground and quickly sprinted towards the other, jumping up on its shoulder. Skull's Leg's wrapped tightly around its neck as he forced his body down, flipping the insectoid onto its back. Skull-Man landed on his feet, quickly standing and bringing a foot down hard, stomping its head against the stone floor in the process with a sickening crack. Turning around, three more of them approached the Skull-Man with more caution than the previous two. Skull-Man simply cracked his neck and sprint forward, giving them no time to react to his flurries of punches that struck the insectoid to the left's chest and abdomen with bone-crunching force that surprise even Skull-Man. Skull followed with a point blank duo of headshots, firing two more headshots into the unsuspecting two that moved forward and were only an arms reach away. "Only two left? Got a little carried away." Skull-Man mocked, raising both guns to fire. 

Up above, Richie's glider took a sharp, sudden turn, and Miasma barely caught the high whistle as it cut through the air until it struck him straight in the back. His armour was tough, alien alloys further buffered by his own hardened carapace, but it left a thick crack through the back, and hit with enough force to toss him over the edge entirely. He watched as the glider circled around and was caught by Richie, who swiftly found his balance atop the board and steadied himself, shifting to ride alongside Miasma who continued in freefall.

"I'm full of tricks," Richie called out, as he took a hard right, bringing back a fist which collided with Miasma's jaw.

Miasma took the hit, crashing into the side of the building and spirally out of control, his body tumbling and crashing into another ledge, only to tear straight through it and continue downwards. He vanished in the inner mechanisms of the machine, but Richie tracked his fall and kept a steady speed as he continued downwards.

The insectoid wrenched himself out at a right angle, crashing through the sheer metal wall of the machine at hurling himself at Richie. In the briefest moments he had before he was thrown out of control himself he saw Miasma, a garland of glass like, insect wings manifested from his back, and the thrusters equipped to the legs and arms of his armour humming to life, turning his primitive, biological method of flight into a truly agile mode of transportation to rival even Richie's glider.

Miasma's clawed second pair of hands hooked in Richie's armour and held him in place as he let out an earsplitting screech, his legs positioned on the edge of the glider and putting far too much weight on one side for Richie to keep control. He tried his best to maintain it, but trying to fend off the barrage of punches and attempted lacerations from Miasma while keeping control in flight was almost impossible. Richie's lower hands moved to wrench Miasma's hands from his armour, while the heftier, stronger upper pair through punch after punch, exchanging them with Miamsa as they brawled in freefall.

Richie had no choice as they came in far too close to the ground. He took a mighty punch to the stomach almost enough to make him sick, but brought his hand down to the nose of the glider and wrenched it upwards, narrowly avoiding crashing straight into the ground and skimming the surface of the dusty land.

The noise of the air tearing apart at the sheer speed of the glider was something Skull-Man heard before he saw it, albeit just for a second, before the careening glider crashed into the last two monstrous insects that faced him, before blinking out of sight before he could even respond, and spiralling upwards into the sky.

Richie and Miasma wrestled for control, trading blows punch for punch, neither seeming to get the upper hand. They went higher and higher at an incredible speed, blinking in and out of Skull-Man's view as the rushed to the ground for just a moment before shooting off again. Miasma threw a punch which Richie caught, and he twisted his right hand as he threw another punch. The knuckles of his glove crackled with energy as blue electricity danced across it, and he forced his clenched fist into the stomach of Miasma and held it there, until lashes of white electricty crackled across the insect's limbs. His body shook and shuddered, and Richie grabbed the stunned insect with all four hands and hefted him off of the glider, letting his limb body fall.

Miasma released an ear shattering, insect-like screech as feeling returned to his body, and the sickening sensations of falling consumed him. His wings extended again, his thrusters whirring into action, and passing a brief glance back to Richie who caught his breath, Miasma only increased the speed of his fall, aimed directly for Skull-Man.

"Close call, Richie, you almost did a splat!" Skull-Man called out as he failed to notice the insect flying towards him until the alien himself spoke.

"You humans are no match for me!" Miasma howled as he lashed out with his claws, eager to grab and tear into Skull-Man.

Despite his incredible speed, Miasma only clutched at air, until he felt a sudden, heavy metal boot crash into the side of his skull, and Miasma's limp body crashed into the ground. It twitched for a moment, wings still vibrating, but he lay completely still. Not dead, as Skull-Man would find by a brief check over the alien's body, but knocked out completely cold.

Richie, atop his glider, would hover alongside soon after. "Nice job, Skull."

Skull-Man cheered as he looked about the wasteland, the remaining soldiers either dead or unconscious. "You have a neat glider? I have tricks that are super sick!" he chimed. He motioned towards Miasma "All this guy has is an ugly face." 

As Richie came down to land, the magnet locks on his glider disengaging allowing him to hop down to touch solid ground, Skull pryed away the thrusters from Miasma's back and legs and placed them upon his back and own legs respectively, his suit seemingly adjusting itself to the newly acquired tech. "Ooooh, how I'm going to love this! But first, we got a Generator to un-fix" he said to Richie, as he clicked his heels to try and activate the thrusters.

They worked, much to Richie's amazement, as Skull-Man hovered briefly in the air, before he lost balance and crashed into the ground, mangling his right arm and snapping his right leg in two. He kicked up a cloud of dust, his wrecked body lying there until the thrusters disengaged. One crackled, smoked, and almost exploded. If it were anyone else Richie may have been in shock, but he had seen Skull-Man rebuild himself from worse, so only looked on in amusement.

"You okay, Skull?" Richie asked, reaching out a hand to help him up.

"Just..." The man groaned, limply reaching for Richie's hand before he gave up entirely. "Just give me a minute."