Bringing the house down

[Ayin & Sigma]

As he floated across the rubble, between rising columns of smoke, he thought back briefly to a time when he had worked as a researcher here. As he recalled those memories, he mentally checked off several names from the list of people he still needed to kill.

New York University encompassed some thirteen collages, and it was a research institute at one of these that now lay in ruins.

It had happened quickly – too quickly for most people to react. Nobody had seen the dark figure as it descended on the little cluster of buildings, and nobody had been expecting the sudden rain of fire and light that demolished the compound in a series of devastating explosions.
A few of the senior researchers had recognized what they thought to be an old colleague of theirs at the centre of the chaos. In truth, the man they had worked with all those years ago was no more. Dr. Erskine died his death in the fiery explosion that gave birth to Sigma – the sum of all fears.

“Come out and die like a man Frederic!” Sigma yelled out across the landscape of shattered concrete. His voice, crackling with power, drowned out the moans and screams of the dead and the dying – the innocents caught in the terrible storm of his vengeance.

Nobody could stop him now. He would have his revenge. He would bring low those who had ruined him, and cast their bodies aside as they had so discarded him all those years ago. They would know pain, they would know suffering, and god save anyone who stood in his way.

As his vibrant, green eyes swept the rubble, searching for the last man here who truly needed to die, the fires of insanity burned yet brighter behind those terrible, gazing orbs.

[Battle Scar]

Driving down the road Chris was driving in his blue 2002 Honda Accord. New York is an area Chris isn't too experienced with. He usually likes to stick around to his own home town in Pennsylvania. He simply needs to get away from the insanity that has been happening lately in his life, so he figured he'd pay his cousins a visit out in Syracuse. He is simply dressed in a black shirt, some black jeans, and a black hawaiian shirt with palm trees all over it. In the passenger seat sits his pet Dachshund named Weenie. He is looking out the window at the scenery curiously sniffing with is nose leaving prints on the window as he does. In the car "Raise Up" by Petey Pablo is playing.

"North Carolina! Go and Raise Up! Take your shirt off! Twist It Around your head like a Helicopter!"

Chris sings alogn to the song. Weenie looks at Chris like he has completely lost his mind. As they are Driving suddenly a large piece of debris lands in front of the car. Almost having a heart attack Chris manages to swerve around the large stone slab causing Weenie to fall off his seat onto the floor.

"Sorry about that Ween! What the hell is going on around here?!"

He says as he looks around to see the New York University going up in flames. He passes the University every time he visits his cousins so needless to say this was pretty surprising. What was more surprising though was the fact there was a man hovering around. Chris pulls his car to the side of the road and behind one of the News Vans and watches the carnage unfold.

"Ya know Ween right when I thought my life couldn't get any stranger, this happens..."

He says directed at his canine companion who is leaping up on his seat again shaking the cob webs out of his head.

"Oh bloody hell what do you know... You're a dog! All you care about is someone to take you out to go potty and someone to feed you!"

He says as he opens his car door and walks out. He immidiately takes off his Hawaiian shirt and his black shirt under it and throws it in his car revealing his silver dog tag necklace and his scar covered upperbody.

"Well I guess this doesn't leave me no choice."

He says as he casually walks to the carnage. He weaves through the croud of people shoving reporters out of his way and walks to the front of whats left of the building. He hears the man bantering on about how he is wanting someone named Frederic to come out. Chris can only shake his head as he can only imagine what everyone is thinking. Chris doesn't even look like a super hero. He looks more like one of those nerdy teenagers you'd find at the local card and comic shop.

"Hey scum bag! Instead of fighting a doctor why don't you fight someone who can actually kick your ass!"

He says directed to the flying individual. Cracking his knuckles, the 18 year old hero was ready to go to war.

[Ayin & Sigma]

Busy combing the rubble for any sign of the good doctor Frederic Grunbaum, Sigma didn't even register the teenager as he approached. The insane supervillain was so used to people running away from him, he'd never expected anyone to come towards him.

So, as you might expect, the boy's shouted challenge came as quite a surprise to the masked murderer.

Angered to be distracted from his search and his crucially important task, Sigma turned to see who was foolish enough to threaten him. He was power, he was unstoppable – he was as a god among men!
He had certainly expected more than what he saw. A shirtless, skinny teenager covered in the scars of what looked like self-harming tendencies looked up at him from below. Sigma turned his head to one side and regarded the boy, wondering why he wasn’t cowering in fear or running for his life. The child seemed quite confident and courageous – foolish boy.

With a brief snort, Sigma dismissed the child and reached out with a kinetic energy field, lifting a slab of concrete the size of a lorry and hurling it towards the youth with little more visible effort than a gesture of the wrist.

“Catch.” Sigma chuckled to himself as the huge slab hurtled towards the boy, before turning back to his search.

[Dr. Strange]

Dr. Stephen Strange was out for a walk. A real walk. He wasn't flying, or shielded, he simply walked down the street, dressed in a suit and tie, his hands clasped loosely behind his back. The weather had been nice, and he was enjoying the time without having to think about the frightful work he sometimes did. Still, the Eye of Agamotto sat under his shirt, the gem hidden behind a gold plate. His hair was neatly trimmed as always, the white shocks making him look less old and more distinguished. He'd gone white early, but now he felt it should be more, rather than the two shocks that sat in his black hair.

He was near to one of the city universities (One he had been in many times when a doctor), when he heard the sound of an explosion. He jumped, as did most of the people on the street. To be fair, though, he was one of the only people who didn't scream. And then he heard a voice, and while the others on the street might have thought it an accident, the good doctor, the Sorcerer Supreme, knew better. He started toward the sound of the explosion, turning up just quickly enough to see a huge slab hurtling toward a young man. Without thinking, without so much as a consideration, he raised a hand and the slab hurtled off course, landing in front of the doctor. He didn't flinch.

"Well then, isn't this going to be fun?" He muttered to himself, looking over at the kid, "Are you okay?" He called.

[Battle Scar]

Chris saw the slab coming at him. He wasn't about to stand down to this Psychotic individual. He crossed his arms and his blood hardened to a steel like texture. He was waiting for the impact when he noticed the Slab was knocked off course by some unknown force. Just then a rather old looking man walked beside him and asked if he was ok.

"Yeah i'm fine pops... I sugegst you head for cover. Things are about to get ugly..."

Chris says keeping his blood hardened. Chris now starts to walk to a telephone pole clearly shaking the ground with each step he makes. Reporters Gasp as Chris proceeds to Rip the thick wooden pole out of the ground and hoists it over his head. Clearly by now everyone knew Chris wasn't just some crazed Teenager out for a cheap adrenaline rush.

"Now it's my turn mofo! See if you can catch this!!!"

He says hurling the wooden pole like a javelin at the flying villain who was so ignorant enough to brush Chris off like a civilian.

[Ayin & Sigma]

He felt it from across the rubble strewn landscape of the destroyed college. To him it was more of a taste – a smell than anything else. The sense of raw and pure power and energy was delightful. He imagined it would be to him what fine wine was to a connoisseur and purveyor of the very best drink the world over.

Sigma stopped still in the air, hovering in place as he turned, eyes widening to see the concrete slab he had dropped on the whelp change direction and land harmlessly on the grass several meters away.

This power was a rare find – something new and exciting. Though he had no idea how it would affect him, he wanted it. He craved it like a starving vampire craves blood.

It was then that his thoughts were suddenly and rudely interrupted. Something struck the kinetic and electromagnetic field around his body, before deflecting harmlessly and skittering away over the rubble. The kinetic energy from the object was simply absorbed into the field, but Sigma was intrigued at how much force the child had put behind the projectile.

“Cretin.” Sigma muttered as drew on the kinetic energy from the blow, and warped it, making it pure destructive energy. With a single deft sweep of the arm something like a green fireball erupted from his hands and hurtled towards the teenager.
The projectile should explode with something like the force of a 30mm artillery shell, and the whelp should be gone – freeing him to converse with his new interest. With all this excitement, Sigma had almost completely forgotten about the death-list.

“You!” Sigma yelled at the new arrival.

“Come here!” He almost purred, his eyes burning bright green as his voice crackled with malevolent energies.

[Dr. Strange]

Strange raised a slim eyebrow nearly to his white hairline. So he may have been eighty, but he also wasn't 'pops'. He briefly considered that the white in his hair might be a little much, that maybe he should invest in some hair-color or simply choose to appear a little younger. Then again, he was the Sorcerer Supreme, he could look a wizened old man if he felt like it. Someone needed to learn his manners, though, to be fair, there were more important things to do. Strange ignored the first part of the comment as tactfully as possible, "Your concern is touching, but I should worry more about you." He called it out, annoyed but concerned of course.

A green fireball hurtled toward the child and Strange threw both hands outward, there was no immediate result, but as the light approached it was blocked by the sudden shadow of vast, almost angelic wings. He waved his arms in a circular motion, immediately a strong wind kicked up, he was without his cloak of levitation, but the winds lifted him up, along with several pieces of rubble, the winds had the force of a tornado, controlled and set in motion. he held his arms out, "I am Dr. Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, and I do not take orders from children!" The pieces of rubble, three in all, flew forward on the wind, hurtling with deadly speed at Sigma, flown forward on all the rage of an angered Sorcerer.

[Ayin & Sigma]

It was a new and interesting experience - meeting people he couldn't simply kill off as and when he felt like it. It was however, very frustrating.

Sigma raised a quizzical eyebrow behind his mask as his little energy bolt was deflected away from the shirtless whelp, by something like giant ghostly angel wings.
Not only did the sudden appearance of giant angel wings make no sense, but the fact that this ‘sorcerer supreme’ was capable of deflecting pure energy attacks was most odd. Sigma turned back to the sorcerer, deciding that he would definitely have to kill this man and take his power – it was all far too wonderful.

As he hovered slowly and deliberately through the air towards the sorcerer, Sigma noticed the wind about him picking up significantly. He couldn’t feel the gale in his bubble of dead space, but he could certainly see its effects around him.
Oddly enough, the sorcerer began to rise into the air as if levitating, followed by three large blocks of concrete from the rubble of the college buildings.

Suddenly the winds changed direction, bearing down on him hard and bringing several tonnes of concrete projectiles with them. The energy vampire just continued to suck the kinetic energy from the air around him, keeping a bubble of deathly still air within the field.
The first two oversized bullets struck the field around sigma with significant force, and simply transferred all of their own kinetic energy to the supervillain, before falling away harmlessly.
However, when the third projectile came within range, Sigma struck out with one gloved fist, striking the block with the full force of the wind and the previous two chucks of rubble. He wasn’t aiming for the sorcerer this time though. No, the huge chunk of concrete was redirected by the blow, hurtling towards the teenager with incredible speed and force.

When would they learn?

Sensing that it would take significantly more energy to bring low this sorcerer to feed upon his power, Sigma searched the ground below him for power lines. Sensing energy was a sense somewhat akin to hearing it for the madman. It was best described as an auditory thermal image, if you could grasp the concept.
He soon found exactly what he was looking for, and dived directly down, striking the rubble like a bullet. Chinks of steel and concrete went every which way as Sigma exposed the power lines with incredible speed and accuracy, before plunging both hands directly into the thick black cable.

“Ah hahahaha ha ha!” The black, stomach churning laughter of the madman echoed throughout what remained of the college grounds, as brilliant blue sparks arced up his arms, changing colour to bright green as they circled and penetrated his torso.

Power went out briefly all around the campus and the adjacent streets before Sigma released the torn cable and rose back into the air, facing the sorcerer once more.

“I’m really going to enjoy this.” Sigma purred as he raised his hands and gestured at the old man.

Suddenly, a thin beam of brilliant green light erupted from his hands and sped towards the floating sorcerer. The pure energy directed at the old man was not all Sigma had taken from the power lines, but more than enough to puncture several meters of steel.

Sigma couldn’t help but wait expectantly for the old man’s reaction, and barely avoided clapping his hands like an excited child. Oh this was going to be fun!

[Battle Scar]

Chris' jaw literally almost hit the floor when he saw Dr. Strange literally grow angel wings. He couldn't even think of anything to say. He heard the man introduce himself as Dr. Steven Strange as a sorcerer.

"Sorcerer?! I thought sorcerers were a thing you'd only find in a game of Dungeons and Dragons!"

He says before he started to take flight. he sensed this man had a lot of power. Suddenly he saw one of the slabs of concrete Dr. Strange thrown redirected and coming at him. Chris immidiately hardened his blood and crossed his arms. The concrete slab slammed into chris full force and shattered into multiple pieces. For most ordinary people it would've obviously killed them. But Chris' Blood harden technique turned himself into a steel wall. The sharpened stones in the slab left multiple gashes in Chris'. Chris smiled. This is just what he wanted.

"Oh you see... This is exactly what I wanted... The more you make me bleed... THe stronger I get!!!"

He says as blood trickles down his skin. The blood trickling down hardened and Chris breaks off what appears to be a spike. He proceeds to take the small spike and run the tip of it down his right arm puncturing the skin as he does. By now most people probably think Chris is absolutely insane. But there is a reason for his name.

"And let me introduce myself..."

Chris says as the blood gushing out of his arm hardens into multiple medium sized blades. The energy weilding warrior is distracted with Dr. Strange which is perfect.

"I Am... BATTLE SCAR!!!"

Chris screams as he runs one of the blades against his left wrist slashing it open. He aims his now bleeding wrist up in the air and fires off a long stream of blood aimed for Sigma's eyes hoping it would blind him.

[Dr. Strange]

Strange felt mildly relieved when the Wings of Seraphim worked properly, their function was protection but they did not always fulfill it. Lucky he had used them now and not later in the battle, when he would be weaker and less able to concentrate on his casting. The battering winds, his only recourse for getting into the air without his cape (Why had he left the Sanctum without it? Silly man.) were distracting, and as the slabs of concrete were pushed away or fell to the ground Strange let the winds away, dropping harmlessly to the ground where he could cast without being distracted by his own spells.

It was doing this that he missed the third slab being redirected at the child, though he heard when it hit and was immediately struck by the fear that the child was dead. He looked over and saw him now up in the air, bleeding, and the rock littering the ground. So the boy was a creature of super powers? Magnificent, some of the doctor’s favorite people identified themselves in that group. Unfortunately, a good deal of his least favorite people did too. He avoided getting mixed up with them whenever possible, however, this fight was far too messy. Someone had to take care of such things.

The child made some crack about sorcerers only being found in something about dungeons and the Sorcerer Supreme chose to ignore it. He had enough problems without sending this child on a first class trip into another realm. That would be impolite.

But bad manners aside, the monstrous creature had absorbed the electricity from a line nearby, the lights flickered, and the thin beam of light flew forward. He threw his arms in front of him, as though he intended to shield himself with only his physical body. Around him, rings of light appeared, seven in all, and flew forward. They were pure magic and therefore absorbed the energy of the attacks, glowing an angry electric blue as the green light struck them, driving the sorcerer back a foot before they dispersed the energy.

The rings dispersed, surrounding him on all sides, hanging motionless and the sorcerer raised his right hand, two fingers upward, the rest curled into a half first. The air around him crackled, his hair was standing on end and the heavy gem, the Eye of Agamotto, previously hidden beneath his shirt, was floating before him, flashing scarlet. A flame, barely the size of what hung on the end of a candle’s wick, hung at the top of his extended fingers. He blew on it and rather than going out the flame hurtled forward in a line, a solid crackle of magic, the purest form of energy rushing at the being that hung up in the air. It was no flame, it was pure energy made solid, it had as much or as little force as the sorcerer wanted it and right now it had just enough force to burn, to damage, but not to kill, he was saving that for later.

[Ayin & Sigma]

Somewhat surprised by the fact the whelp wasn't yet a smear on the ground, and both impressed and concerned by the sorcerer's show of power, Sigma wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The blood that the boy had launched at him struck the energy field around Sigma and lost its kinetic energy to the villain as had all the other kinetic projectiles.
The viscous, crimson liquid simply fell away, gathering in a misshapen pool on the ground several meters below him.

He was tired of the sound of the whelp's voice, assaulting his ears in a way far more irritating than any of his childishly foolish attacks.
Sigma resolved to kill the child there and then. Throwing out his left arm towards the shirtless teenager, Sigma created a thermo-kinetic field around the boy, before closing it with a gesture of his hand.

As the field began to close around the whelp it would constrict his movements, and as the temperature increased he would be crushed and burned alive. . .

Before he was even half way through killing the child, something struck his right shoulder with heat and force, enough to be more than uncomfortable and to throw him back several feet.
Sigma immediately let the field around the boy dissipate as he turned his attention to defending himself. How on earth had the sorcerer even penetrated his fields?
The crazed murderer threw up a circular shield of green energy that deflected the fiery beam as Sigma moved out of its path, evading the last vestiges of its offensive power.


“WHAT!” Sigma bellowed, looking down to see scorch marks on his shoulder. Rubbing the slightly injured area with his left hand he turned back to the sorcerer and launched himself bodily through the air, hurtling towards the old man like a missile.

As he approached the sorcerer, Sigma reached out to take him by the throat with his left hand, before drawing back his right and casting a blow at his face with enough force to punch through tank armour.


“I shall add your power to my own!” Sigma bellowed into the sorcerer’s face as he began to draw energy from him with the other hand. At first it felt good, it felt like raw power, but moments later he realized something was terribly wrong.

Very wrong indeed.

[Battle Scar]

Chris knew he was in trouble in the box but he had the sorcerer to thank when his attack actually knocked him back. Regrouping to his feet he looked to see that the villain was now focusing on Dr. Strange.

"Now this is where things get interesting."

He says to himself as blood flows down his cut wrist. The blood suddenly hardens into a blunt rod type weapon. Before he could attack however The sound of a growl is heard. People gasp as suddenly exploding through the driver's side door of Chris' car is Weenie. The small playful Dachshund has now transformed into a Dachshund the size of a large Grizzly Bear. In his mouth is the driver's door handle with the door itself attached. He shakes the door like it's a rag doll and flings it aside before the large canine starts his charge at Sigma.

"Great... How am I going to explain this to the insurance company..."

He says to himself seeing his own dog rip the door off his car. He had better things to worry about now though. Chris starts to charge Sigma from behind going for a team attack. While Weenie is aiming for Sigma's face literally using Dr. Strange's shoulder to propel himself with his paws extended, Chris goes low aiming the blood hardened blunt weapon right behind his knees.

[Dr. Strange]

The magic had hurt him; it had worked where the physical attacks had not. Strange worked very hard to continue that line of thought while maintaining the protective rings that surrounded him. What could he use against the creature that was more powerful than the Flame of Faltine? The Eye, of course, the light of the gem that floated an inch from his chest and added its power to his own, but that was far too much, Strange wanted to hurt the creature but not destroy his soul. When the right spell finally struck him (In the bare second he had been thinking) it was too late, the beast was on top of him, a hand at his throat.

The rings deflected the creature’s blow, saving the frail sorcerer, giving him enough breath to hiss, “My power? You will do no such thing,” before he truly began to cast. A Sorcerer’s Sphere, it was the only way to keep the beast from stealing his power, the energy that hung about him like a physical cloak. Threads knit together in the air, black threads, shadow made solid and surrounding him. They did not get very far. The creature was draining his power, and Strange was having too difficult a time fighting the draw to realize it was damaging his opponent. His full attention needed to be fixed to create the sphere, to avoid the creature stealing more of his energy. And then, his full attention wasn’t there.

He felt something on his shoulder, some great beast had used him as its launching pad to attack his attacker and leave it with more energy and power than before. Strange fell backward the strands of energy fell away and dissolved to nothing. The creature was still stealing his energy, dragging him back to the dismal pain of a darkness without his magic. A constant companion for so long it ached to have that ability slowly stolen. This creature was a devilish vampire, it wouldn’t be the first time Strange had fought such a monster.

He was on the ground now, the world reeling around him, and he threw what remained of his power into bolts of pure energy, shadowy arrows that launched themselves for Sigma’s chest, past the monstrous dog. On his chest the Eye of Agamotto relinquished the last of its energy as well, feeding the bolts, not just a burn, they would cut, maybe not kill, but hopefully drive this beast away. He couldn’t fight for much longer, and the child nearby could do nothing against this creature, as strong as he was.

[Ayin & Sigma]

The sorcerer had easily deflected the blow with his magic, and as Sigma had seized him his growing spells seemed to fade away as the madman tapped the old man’s strength. He noticed the whelp and some savage beast hurtling towards him and Dr. Strange.

He ignored them.

There was nothing either of them could do to stop him, now or ever. Incapable of anything more than physical attacks they would do no more than harmlessly strike the fields around his body and lose the strength of their blows to him, only to see them returned in kind.

Now the power of the sorcerer coursed through his mind and body, filling him with pure force and energy. Sigma shuddered as he drew the man’s strength, feeling it run through him, relishing in its sensations. . . the strength, the feel, the taste of the energy. . .

And something else. . .

Something was growing in the back of his mind, multiplying and expanding as he drank in the pure magical power. It was unlike any kind of energy Sigma had ever experienced, and therefore unlikely to be any form of true energy.
Magic was a power, vast and terrible. It held incredible destructive potential, and was difficult to wield and control by the inexperienced in even the smallest quantities. Sigma was no sorcerer and had never before experienced magic, and was unprepared for what happened next.

He quickly began to lose control of the power he had tapped from the sorcerer. Pain wracked his body as it slipped away from his control, invaded his mind and body and burned within him like no fire could. He tried desperately to wrench his hand from the sorcerer’s neck, but found himself stuck in place as if a powerful current were running through him – between them.

Sigma’s hands went to his head, grasping at his face as they wandered rapidly, tearing at the terrible thing within his mind. The energy that coursed through his mind constantly had eradicated his sanity, and the pure magical energy not only burned his body and what was left of his soul, but twisted the darkness that haunted him.
It grew and grew, becoming so vast and terrible that the unthinkable terrors that haunted him were inescapable. He was doomed.

He screeched and clawed at his head, sending a terrible scream echoing across the campus – a scream crackling with power and resonating with terror.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, bolts of what might have been light struck his chest, exploding on contact with his suit. The nano-fibre mesh shredded, exposing red, singed skin on his chest as Sigma was thrown back hard.
The body of the darkly-clad villain flew away from the sorcerer at speed, arms and legs flailing. He arced through the air, before landing a few hundred feet away, striking one of the few exposed areas of grass with a dull thud.

Sigma twisted on the ground, writhing like a man on fire.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?” He bellowed, seemingly demanding and answer from nobody and everyone at the same time, before standing shakily and leaping into the air.
He swerved and careered away through the air at speed, soon disappearing from sight, closely pursued by his demons as he fled the source of the terrible power – the sorcerer supreme. As he slowly disappeared, his cries of pain and anguish faded away, until the ruined campus was left eerily silent.

[Battle Scar]

It seemed like everything Chris was throwing at this villain was simply being absorbed like a sponge. By now he was extremely frustrated and had to formulate a new plan. The enlarged Dachshund stood beside his master growling loudly.

"Ok so he absorbs energy... I've got to overload him some how."

He says looking around for something that could possibly produce mass quantities of electrical energy when he heard him screaming in pain. It appears that the energy he absorbed from Dr. Strange wasn't exactly his favorite flavor. Seeing the villain flee for his life, Chris adjusted his glasses. The battle was over. He bent down and gave his canine companion a pet on the head as his blood blades slid back into his skin and his cuts closed shut like nothing ever happened.

"Good boy Ween... But did you really have to rip the door off my car?!"

He says as the dog looks up at Chris with an innocent look in his eyes. While Chris didn't do much in the battle it is shown that he is a true hero and is willing to take chances to save the lives of others. With the battle done the news journalists have finally came out taking pictures of Chris, His dog Weenie, and Dr. Strange.