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[quote=@Byrd Man]The shockwave of their collision rippled through the air. An impact three times as powerful of the bomb that leveled Hiroshima tore across the badlands, cracking the ground and sending entire chunks of the barren earth into the air. The crash was so loud, people from hundreds of miles away reported hearing it.

Both the Surfer and Superman were blown away by the energy of their violent crash. The Man of Steel rocketed towards the ground while the Surfer drifted higher and higher into the stratosphere until he slipped the bonds of gravity altogether. The blow he had received had been mighty, but yet the pain was not there. He was beyond pain in this state. That was something he had felt when he was... another man.

[color=darkgray][b]"STRENGTH,"[/b][/color] the Surfer said in a voice that was little above the whisper, yet both Superman and Flash could hear his words clearly.[color=darkgray][b]"YOU HAVE STRENGTH IN ABUNDANCE."[/b][/color][/quote]

For a moment, I stare at the shining metallic man in disbelief.  I hit him at full force, at near top speed.....and he didn't even seem to feel it.  This isn't the first time simply throwing a haymaker hasn't worked-- the Parasite was able to drain energy out of my punches every time they made contact, Livewire's body could turn into a sentient electrical charge, and the Atomic Skull was simply too lost in his insanity to register how much damage I'd done to him.  This, though, was the first time I've thrown my best punch, and the opponent was simply too tough for me to hurt.

[color=RoyalBlue][b]"That's not--"[/b][/color] I start before stopping myself.  The word I was going to say was "possible," but I know better these days.  Ma always jokes that I "do a dozen impossible things before lunch," so maybe I shouldn't be caught off-guard when something challenges my own expectations.

Impossible or not, this guy is tough as hell.  I don't know if I'm capable of even really putting a dent in him, let alone beating him in a straight-up fight.  Regardless, I've got to do something, or he's going to put more innocent people at risk.

[quote=Byrd Man]Floating in the upper levels of the atmosphere, the Surfer balled both his fists. Energy crackled from his knuckles. The power he wielded resided on Earth, as it resided in the deepest black holes and at the edges of the universe. It was the power of the cosmos itself that he was tapped in to. To fight him was to fight against the power of the universe. The energy in his hands slowly stretched across his arms, chest, and legs. Lastly, it covered his head until his entire body radiated with the Power Cosmic.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/3yfwg6T.jpg[/img]

[color=darkgray][b]"BUT IS IT A SIMPLE BRUTE STRENGTH, OR CAN IT BE WIELDED WITH PRECISION?"[/b][/color]

He exploded downwards, his body and board crackling with energy and leaving a trail of electricity in his wake as he rocketed towards the Earth and the heroes in the Badlands. They had yet to learn of sacrifice, but the Surfer had planned to give them a lesson on such matters in due time.
[/quote]

I can feel the waves of energy radiating from the silver man, making my spine tingle as he charges forward.  It's....[i]immense[/i], hard to even fathom.  He's like an exploding star in humanoid form, a living force of Nature itself.

Then again, that's what everyone says about me.

[color=RoyalBlue][b]"You want to know what I can do with my strength?"[/b][/color] I say, my fists raised in a fighting stance.  [color=RoyalBlue][b]"Come and find out!"[/b][/color]

I hurl myself skywards at the mysterious attacker, the searing heat and teeth-chattering electrical shock from the energy flowing across his body growing exponentially stronger as we approach on a collision course.  I pull my right hand back, winding up for a hook that, if it connects, would shatter a mountain.

Time slows to a crawl, split-seconds stretching like pulled taffy as we near our point of impact.  I can't even begin to calculate his power, but with the amount of energy I'm capable of putting out and our combined speed, if I meet him strength-for-strength, regardless of who wins, the impact would be like that from the meteor that killed the dinosaurs.  A planet-wide, mass-extinction event.

Fortunately, slamming into things at full force isn't the only thing I can do.

In the remaining inches between myself and the silver man, I dive downwards, the sudden change of movement throwing my cape into his face like a bullfighter.  Instead of letting loose with the hard right, I turn hard to the left and throw out a sweeping backhand, my forearm connecting with the back of his left knee.

There's a loud [i]KTING[/i], like a baseball being hit with an aluminum bat, and I turn to see the surfer take a tumble off of his board, hurtling down into the Badlands and kicking up an enormous dust cloud as he smashes into the earth.

Given that he was able to take a haymaker head-on without so much as a grunt, I doubt I've done anything more than tick him off.  But it's bought me a few seconds.  Maybe the Flash can tell me what we're up against, and how we can stop it.

Scanning the horizon, I eventually see the red-and-yellow-clad figure and speed towards her, ripping up a trail of dust and gravel in my wake.

[color=RoyalBlue][b]"Flash, right?"[/b][/color] I say as I come to a halt in front of her.  [color=RoyalBlue][b]"We don't have much time, but I've got him on the ground.  Maybe together, we can keep him there."[/b][/color]