I am the voice. (Invite only)

Even through the metaphorical haze of blood that clouded his mind, Anu's speech reached Jack's ears. His enemy's words stopped him in his track, a rare feat. Jack halted his assault, one that unbeknownst to him would have ended in his death if he had carried on with it. If Jack had kept running straight at her, he would have fallen right into her trap, one that would have immobilized him and ensured his enemy's victory. That is, his untimely demise.
The speech she gave that was meant to demoralize him had worked against her, saving the intrepid fool's life. Still, it had almost achieved its original goal as well. Jack had been stopped, if only for a brief moment, and was considering the venom that the goddess had try to pour in his ear.

He looked around the crowd. They were terrified alright, which only made sense with the rampaging plants in the park and the metahuman claiming to be a goddess vowing to destroy humanity. But what hit Jack was that from their faces he couldn't read whether it was the plants they were afraid of or well...him. In reality, it was both. It was hard to see Jack Maroon as a villain; he had saved civilians and fought someone who desired world-domination. But it was almost as difficult for people to acknowledge him as a true hero. His words were far from heroic, his actions brutal and without any form of moral restraint. His bloodthirst scared them as much as the goddess' display of her powers and her claim to godhood and of dominion did.

But what the hell did he care about all of that? Jack didn't do what he did for them; he did it for himself. Everything he did was to ensure his life held meaning before it expired. Of course, that meaning was a little different from what the ordinary man would call meaningful; most people would not consider emulating insane feats from videogames and animated series to be the meaning of life. But this was Jack's choice. He wanted to be a hero in the only way he understood the concept. Jack smiled. Hell, this bitch thought she could beat him with petty words and trickery? Who the hell did she think he was?


'Who the hell do you think I am?!'' the words resounded through Jack's heart, through his muddled brain that had found the perfect opportunity to use that oh so precious quote. He had held the show it was from very dear to his heart, even considering some of the characters from it as inspiration for his heroic persona; the personality he had cultivated in himself. Yes. It was time. After the short few seconds Jack had paused in, he acted again.

He thrusted his right arm up and pointed at the heavens dramatically, assuming the signature pose of one of his greatest heroes. "Who the hell do you think I am?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, and then moved out of his pose by executing a fist-pump with the erected arm. To the audience, the heroine who had just entered the fray, observant for now, and the recipient of this gesture, this act would probably have made little sense. To Jack it was as meaningful as could be.

When Essa, the heroine known as the silver hellfire, interjected, Jack postponed the speech he had just wanted to start. Her timing was terrible, but maybe she was worth hearing out.
“Hey, kiddies, why the fighting on a such a nice day? I mean, fuck, I’m trying to walk off some stress and all I see is this shit? What happened, did this girl call you a pussy and you can’t take it like a man or something?

Upon hearing what she had to say, Jack decided she wasn't worth hearing out after all. He ignored her for the time being and started his speech.
"I don't give a flying crap about what any of you thinks of me." Jack pointed at the small crowd of people watching the battle, tracing his finger across the areas they stood in. "I'm here to do what I want. And what I want, is to beat the crap out of this bitch. She's threatened people, attempted to kill people and thinks she's some kind of goddess that should rule the world. In my book, that makes her fair game for me.
So all you fucking cowards, you little people just keep watching the show, and think whatever you want. Because at the end of the day, it's me who's saving your ass, whether you like it or not."

Words alone don't account for shit though, Jack thought. To drive his point home, he decided to use some action to back up his words. As soon as Jack Maroon finished his little speech, he speeded towards the nearest light post, upheaved it from the earth and, guess what, launched it at the villain at the top of his strength. He knew what he'd say if his improvised javelin connected. "Even a goddess can bleed." That was from an old movie he had seen. Gotta love your classics.

The chance was high that he would not be given the chance to use the line, if his improvised javelin would not be able to pierce Anu's floral shield. At the very least, it would draw our young hero's attention to the shield's existence, and make him realize how close he had been to death had he continued his earlier assault.

"Bitch, sit down before you hurt yourself." Essa rolled her eyes slightly. Positioning herself in a half bent stance, she lowered her centre of gravity, deeming her much harder to knock down. As a 6"4 woman and almost 300 pounds of pure muscle, the Silver Hellfire was already crowned with the award and sweet knowledge that she was extremely difficult to knock down by default. She knew plants and earth manipulators were strong, but at the end of the day, one things for certain; fire burns and thrives.

The albino Amazon took in a little breath and extended her hands. Rather than racing forward to face the wave of vines, she stood back, calm as ever palms outstretched, and waiting for the approaching wave as if on a beach and waiting for the gentle tide to come in . . . Once it reached her, she took a lunge forward. Not even glancing at Jack, and executed a massive fiery blue whip. A slick and slender flame that was powerful and sharp compared to the weeds. It singed and sliced through the plants like butter. Fire alone could burn an entire forest down. But blue fire could burn on water and ice. It was the hottest a flame could get and Essa prided herself in being given the ability.

The brute of a woman had a few cuts and nips from the fly astray vines, but seemed fine and perfectly capable of burning anything Anu sished to throw at her.Wanna try something else, hun? Or are you gonna continue to PMS like a whiny bitch? Listen. I don't GIVE a shit who the hell any of think you are! I'm The SILVER FUCKING HELLFIRE AND IM GETTING MARRIED IN A FEW DAYS. How about we ALL just put the claws away and go to the beach or something or the bar. Jesus Christ, I think you both need to get laid.

"WAIT! COME BACK HERE, BITCH!" She spat, ifniting both hands fully and whipping around with an aggrevated grunt. "PUSSY!!!!!!!!!!" She shouted, sapphire blue flames spurting from her hands and engulfing the plants. If not burning them completely, singeing them to an extent that she grumbled,

"Hey, you, help me out, man. I'm 'good', I can't leave all these people to be burned alive. DAMMIT."

(Short and sweet--Just like me ;D)

The plants had proven enough of a distraction for Anu to escape. It was easy for Jack to dodge their attacks until the Silver Hellfire had started burning them to a crisp. The plants didn't burn quickly, but in time the flames settled down and left the botanic monstrosities shrivelled and dead. Jack managed to catch a glimpse of the would-be goddess hitching a ride to escape with.

"Don't you fucking run, bitch! We're not done yet! It's not over until I kill you!" Jack yelled at the top of his lungs. He was frustrated at the fact that his opponent had fled like a coward, but that wasn't all. He would have gone after her if that was all. He could have lost, maybe even died if that tall fire-using woman hadn't intervened with her flames. However grateful he was for the rescue, it had soiled the competition. The duel was invalid, and the crazy plant-babe's escape technically didn't count as forfeiting or fleeing. After all, she had been outnumbered and driven in a corner by her greatest weakness.
No, Jack's frustration was mostly from this battle having no clear resolution. In other cases, he would have been fine; maybe the villain could be a recurring villain, a nemesis of his. But this one just didn't fit the bill for him. Crazy plant-lady that thinks she's a goddess. It worked as a concept, but only as a villain of the week for Jack to slaughter.

Full of disappointment, Jack walked straight past the heroine that may or may not have saved his ass, muttering only a soft "Thanks." under his breath. Maybe he'd meet her again, maybe not. Right now, he wasn't in the mood to think it over. He would head back home to Chicago. He had had enough of L.A. for the time being.




(OOC: I consider this thread wrapped up now.)