The Speedblitz Club [The Bronx]

Since the recent completion of Daniel's shadow nexus in Manhattan he found himself with more freedom to explore everything New York had to offer. Galas, clubs, sports, and so many other activities had filled the past week leading up to this day. During his conversation with Mettle one thing became clear; he would need to do alot more than he already had to prove himself to the heroic overworld, as well as the not so heroic underworld, so he did a bit of digging. Shadows picked up on faint whispers among Metahuman circles and those whispers led him to Speedblitz.

Everyone knew there were meta-human fight clubs in every major city and New York was no exception. This club also had the benefit of being backed by the Mettle Gang which made taking a top spot on the leaderboard all the more enticing. What better way to prove a point than to force the perceived strongest meta-human in New York to acknowledge his own power...and there was also the matter of him being slightly offended at the way he was treated last time the two of them spoke.

The building itself was filled to the brim with cheering spectators watching a fire user go toe to toe with a brawler type. Short range shotgun blasts rained down onto what looked like sparkling skin as the larger of the two men charged through to deliver a series of brutal haymakers. Blood sprayed across the metal floor, the pyro took the fall, and the crowd erupted into a cacophony of hoots. A smirk crept across Daniels face as he made his way towards the locker room.

He wasn't told who he would be fighting that night, chances were it would be another newcomer, but he didn't care. There were few beings who could match the might of his generals in combat. If anything he felt bad for whoever it was that had to go up against him since they'd be in a two on one that would only grow harder as it continued. His shadows didn't grow tired, they could be regenerated, and even if they tried to go for him they would jump in to protect their master.

"You're up next. What should we call you"

He looked up at the costumed woman who just entered the waiting room. He hadn't thought of an alias for himself yet...King..no that was unoriginal. Maybe Shadow Commander...that was just a bit too on the nose. After a few more moments of pondering he finally responded.


"Alright then. You sure you don't wanna change? Things get pretty messy out there."

Daniel rose to his feet and smoothed his black long coat. "Positive" he said as he moved past her and made his way out into the lights of the Arena.

'Tonight just keeps getting better' he thought when he saw his opponent. The man with two souls, and afraid of his own powers, who had declined his sparring offer before. Finally he would get to see this ability that had piqued his interest days ago. He offered a slight wave to his opponent,

"Looks like we'll have to fight after all. Just don't expect this to be a sparring match like I offered before, I don't plan on holding back here."

His irises switched from their normal icy blue to a vibrant purple and his shadow expanded to cover the back of the arena. Murmurs moved through the crowd as the announcer began explaining the rules of their battle. His shadow began to coalesce into a physical shape. A long flowing cloak of darkness shrouded the 7ft tall figure; cascading down his black armor that seemed like a combination of a solid and a gas. A faint blue glow came from the gaps between each plate and from the summons eyes. It remained behind Daniel, its form slightly flickering as the rules explanation was finished. The announcer asked if both fighters were ready and Daniel's aura shifted to one of overwhelming bloodlust. Trails of shadow began rising off of his form like smoke from a fire.

"Lancelot, don't kill him...but get pretty damn close." He gave the announcer a nod and his shadow reached into its cloak and drew from within a 10ft long blade. The moment the announcer told the two the fight his Shadow would attack. Using his powerful muscles to emulate super speed, he would leap across the arena rather than dash. The power of his leap being transferred into a single horizontal cleave the moment he landed. The loud KRAKOOOM of his body being rocketed forward would serve as the only indicator an attack was coming.

"Lets see this power that's going to make me hate you...or was that all talk?"
























x

The air shook at the point of impact between Lancelor's Zweihander and Gerard's spear. To the unaffiliated eye it would seem like a battle of shadowmancers but, the two combatants both knew this was something else entirely. Were Daniel's summons merely shadows than he wouldn't have felt that slight tug at the bottom of his foot and if Gerard's weapon was just shadows than it wouldn't have been able to create that tug by consuming the very energy that made up Lancelot.

During this momentary exchange Daniel had taken in a wealth of knowledge. Gerard's own durability, strength, or both was higher than he anticipated. Lancelot's primary attribute was his overwhelming physical might that could bring even the strongest meta-humans to their knees. His main style of combat was overpowering his opponents with blows that would break through any defense. This was why he had been given a massive great sword as it allowed him to cleave through waves of enemies with each swing. In a battle against a spear though, the edge often fell to the spear's ability to break through wide sweeping arcs and maintain distance while delivering deadly thrusts.

Pushing back, spear against sword, was incredibly difficult and Lancelot's own strength would make moving the warrior without his say even harder. Instead Gerard would find his block acting more as a parry, striking the blade back as he went in for his counter attack. Bringing the spear around his body at that speed would've finished off a normal warrior but, this was a fight between meta-humans. His weapons arc was intercepted by Lancelot, who used the delay provided by the swing to close the gap slightly. The shaft of the weapon was deflected by an armored gauntlet and the follow up thrust would be batted away by the flat of his blade.

The energy siphoning effects of the weapon were intriguing but, ultimately, there was no saying how effective they would be. Simply draining Daniel's shadows didn't mean much since he could just continuously replenish the energy that was drained. In a larger scale battle, against multiple opponents with similar abilities it would prove troublesome as he'd need to constantly be regenerating all of his shadows. In a 1v1 fight though, he had more than enough stamina to keep his General at top shape.

What would be more interesting was if it allowed Gerard to wield the siphoned energy. As the Aspect of Control Daniel maintained absolute authority over the shadows in his army. He had yet to fight someone who could drain that power though and he wondered if he'd be able to maintain his control over it, even when it was within someone else. Could Gerard's ability overwrite Daniel's near divine status. If so, that would make the assumption about him hating the man make sense. He wondered how the man would use the power, was there a limit to how much he could take in, and he wondered if he'd be able to exert his own control over the man if he took on enough.

'For now, ignore the draining effects of his weapon. Overpower him.' he thought, sending the command to his soldier who obeyed without hesitation.

Lancelot would press his own advantage, focusing on thrusts and tight swings over wide arcs. The tip of his blade rocketed forward in a direct thrust that was followed up by a downward swing and another subsequent thrust. While they were fighting Lancelot would look to use his footwork to keep within Gerard's space and make his spear relatively ineffective. Wielding the 10ft blade in close quarters like this meant he would have to keep his form tight. This would lower the power behind each blow while allowing him to maintain superior positioning.

Calculating eyes watched the battle carefully to see exactly what would happen as the man absorbed energy from Daniel's shadow. As of yet there was nothing notable and the King of Control wanted nothing more than to see how strong his aspect powers were. It was possible that this man held a power that threatened his right to control and that meant he could hold a power that needed to be snuffed out. How much was he willing to risk to find out?

Lancelot pressed his advantage, his strikes appearing as nothing more than a powerful flurry of blows. Speed drawn from raw strength and put on display here as the crowd was beginning to grow restless. They wanted to see fighters trading blows not dodging them. Gerard was intent on delivering that as he avoided a slash and hurled his spear towards Lancelot's helm. The shadow knight dodged on instinct leaving a clear path for the weapon to carve a path towards Daniel.

In the moments before the weapon could collide with him a wall of spartan shields exploded upwards taking the brunt of the impact. He knew they wouldn't hold though, a weapon that could consume souls would just be delayed by the shield wall. He took that chance to instead reposition himself and allow his Hoplites to fall. There was no point in pouring energy into keeping them whole here, he just needed Lancelot to stay in top form and exhaust his opposition. The real danger came from Gerard now splitting his attention between the two. Disabling Daniel would disable his shadows which meant he would need to override the base instinct of his soldier.

'Take every hit.'

A powerful thrust shot forward and his opponent attempted to catch the tip of the blade with a single shadow cloaked hand. Instead he would find the edge gliding through his flesh like butter and Lancelot wouldn't stop there. He would've cut the mans entire arm off if he hadn't retreated backwards. Lancelot would keep the pressure on, closing the gap with a leap of his own to keep his unarmed opponent in disadvantage.

Within the next moments the crowd fell silent. Up until this moment Gerard had been in a losing position and now they were all watching as the shadow knight was stopped dead in his tracks. A powerful uppercut forced the knight to take a step back. His opponent was growing faster and, from the looks of it, stronger the more the fight carried on.

"So that's what your power is" Daniel shouted from the other side of the arena, "than lets see just how much you can take."

In an instant the arena would fill with soldiers. 10 knights clad in shadow armor took shape around Gerard and 5 hooded mages took shape near Daniel. He had planned on keeping this fight 1 on 1 but, his curiosity had gotten the best of him. He wanted to see the limits of Gerard's powers and it was growing clear that one opponent wasn't going to be enough for that. His legion would begin their own assault as they began their assault. Knights themselves weren't normally very strong, capable of fighting off low level metas in their group, unless Lancelot was out with them. The general had the ability to empower his knights making capable of fighting against mid level metas.

Lancelot would lead the charge as his warriors unleashed a flurry of melee attacks meant to keep the man distracted while the 5 mages began preparing. Each one held their arms forward as flames coalesced into large spheres. Once they saw an opening a volley of fireballs would streak through the air towards the foe. Daniel knew that this wouldn't be enough to defeat him but, it would all act as the perfect way to keep him overwhelmed which, he hoped would give Lancelot more windows to deliver battle ending blows.

His opponent took the bait. The more he drained Daniel's shadows of their own power the stronger he'd grow. With each soldier he beheaded Daniel could see him getting faster. The knights themselves were stitched back together the moment they were slain and, unlike mortals, they never grew tired. They pressed their advantage without any regard for their own safety; no matter how many times they were shredded apart by his Soul Skewer or had their chests punctured by his spear. Gerard was starting to put on a show and the crowd was eating it up.

KRAKOOOM

The entire arena shook as Gerard's leg blew through the shield wall that rose up to meet it. The kick would keep going, the Hoplites acting as little more than a delay in its path, and collide with its intended target. Daniel took advantage of the momentary pause his soldiers provided to pivot and block with his forearms. A defense that just mitigated the initial damage before he was sent sliding backwards towards the other side at speeds even these televisions couldn't track. The only sign that he had been standing on the other side of skid marks his shoes left on the reinforced floor.

Pain shot through his body and smoke rose up from the newly melted holes in his sleeves. He had expected increases in overall strength but, that kick was something else entirely. This fight was fast approaching a point where he wasn't sure he could maintain control over it and the thought of that awoke something within him. It was a feeling he could only describe as an animalistic bloodlust; he felt a need to destroy Gerard. It was like every cell in his body was commanding him to kill the man. He thought back to his meeting with Mettle.



"I hope you're watching this" he whispered to himself while recalling his shadows. "I think it's time we end this, don't you!?"



Almost instantly shadow coalesced into the shape of a huge dragon with Daniel standing on it's back. "Ghidorah...Lunch" The beasts tail whipped around towards the parasite handler which would hopefully keep him distracted for the few seconds it took for the orange glow in it's throat to become something far more dangerous. From the depths of its body came a continuous spray of white hot flames that would look to cook Gerard where he stood. Ghidorah didn't have much room to move around within this space but, it didn't need it, not when it was packing this much raw destructive force.

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