Match 22581 The Authority vs. Brigade

[JohnnyChany]

90s EXTREME TEAM TOURNEY

The Grand Finale

 

 

The ruined arena underneath the floating hostess platform was still wreathed in smoke when Purgatori and Warrior Nun Areala clashed. Areala fought like a crusader forged in fire. Her blessed blade glimmered, each swing guided by centuries of sacred combat doctrine. Holy inscriptions on the armor she wore glowed faintly as it struck against Purgatori’s demonic aura.

Purgatori, by contrast, fought like a predator. She darted through the air on leathery wings. She moved with savage grace. Her claws slashed in fast, fluid motions that forced Areala constantly onto the defensive.

Areala struck a powerful blow across Purgatori’s ribs, the holy blade left a burning mark across Purgatori’s demonic flesh.

Purgatori laughed. “Not bad, Nun.”

Areala followed the strike with a knee to Purgatori’s midsection and a spinning slash that barely missed its target. For a moment, the holy warrior pressed her advantage and forced Purgatori backward step by step. But demons did not tire. And Purgatori was very, very old. Fighting holy warriors was not new to her.

Purgatori caught the next strike bare-handed. Areala’s blade stopped inches from Purgatori’s throat. Before Areala could react, Purgatori twisted violently, disarmed her and sent the sword twirling on the ground. A vicious backhand strike knocked the warrior nun to her knees. A burst of crimson energy exploded from Purgatori and engulfed Areala. When smoke cleared, Areala laid unconscious at Purgatori’s feet.

Purgatori stretched casually.  “That was fun.”

Across the arena floor, Vampirella and Avengelyne fought like two dueling comets.

Avengelyne’s twin swords flashed in blinding arcs of silver light, divine energy trailed every strike. She pressed Vampirella across the broken battlefield. The fallen angel fought with righteous fury.

“Stand still!” Avengelyne snapped.

Vampirella only laughed. She ducked beneath a sweeping blade, spun around Avengelyn and drove a kick into the hero’s ribs that launched her through a column of shattered stone.

Avengelyne rose instantly. Her swords glowed brighter now as she swung them wildly.  She forced Vampirella into a tight defensive position

But Vampirella thrived in chaos. She vanished in a blur of supernatural speed and reappeared behind Avengelyne. Vampirella drove her elbow hard into the opponent’s spine. Avengelyne staggered and Vampirella seized the moment. 

With one savage strike she knocked both swords from Avengelyne’s hands. Vampirella bit into her neck. A spinning backhand followed. Avengelyne crashed into the arena wall and slid down unconscious.

Vampirella dusted herself off.

“Well,” she said cheerfully, “that was invigorating.”

Purgatori glided down beside her. “Agreed,”

“Imagine we almost missed out on all the action today,” stated Vampirella.

Purgatori smirked. “Unacceptable.”

They turned toward the hovering platform where Lady Death and Angela were still fighting.

The clash between them had become a whirlwind of divine and infernal power. Lady Death’s sword carved massive arcs of black energy through the air, each strike capable of cleaving mountains. Angela answered with unwavering determination and grit.

Lady Death unleashed wave after wave of necrotic force, she summoned skeletal constructs, blasts of death magic, even opened small rifts to the underworld. Angela cut through them all.

Again. And again.

Lady Death’s frustration mounted.

“Stay down!” she snarled after unleashing another blast.

Angela burst through it. The angelic warrior launched forward in a devastating flurry of strikes, her blades moved faster than the eye could track.

Lady Death parried two. Blocked three. The fourth knocked the sword from her grip. Angela pummeled Lady Death with her divine strength. A spinning kick sent Lady Death crashing across the platform.

The pale conqueror of the underworld started to rise, and Angela quickly summoned all her strength and slammed her back down with a final massive blow.

Lady Death fell still. Angela stood over her. Victorious.

She turned just as Vampirella and Purgatori approached.

“Well,” Angela said between large exhales, “your friend here appears finished.”

She straightened her posture.  “You’ll follow soon enough.”

Purgatori folded her arms. “To be honest, we don’t feel much loyalty toward Lady Death. More of a professional obligation.”

Vampirella nodded. “But you taking her down now before the finale of the tournament. That’s poor manners.”

Purgatori tiled her head. “That makes us angry.”

Vampirella stepped forward.

“You ready for round two?” she asked.

Angela lifted her blades. “Gladly.”

Purgatori burst out laughing.

“I hope you realize we’re both attacking you.”

Angela raised an eyebrow as Purgatori spread her wings wide.

“If you expected fairness,” Purgatori added, “you’re even dumber than we thought.”

Angela didn’t hesitate. She scoffed.

.The three women exploded into combat.

And at that exact moment, a bright silver spotlight appeared at the center of the arena.

Sara Pezzini, the hero Witchblade, appeared to the shock and delight of the crowd. She stood elegantly in a shimmering silver dress. The audience erupted.

 

 

She looked up at the platform where the chaos between Angela, Vampirella, and Purgatori raged.

“…Looks like I arrived just in time.,” she noted.

Then she turned toward the audience

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Witchblade announced. “I will be your hostess for the finale of the tournament. My name is Sara Pezzini but you may know me as Witchblade. It was always planned that I would make my dramatic entrance in the case of a tie, and here we are. It’s fitting because how could there be a celebration of 90s extreme comics without me.”

The crow loudly roared its agreeance.

“So, I call upon the members of both the Authority and the Brigade to come out and discover your final challenge!”

Supreme, Glory, Troll and Badrock of the Brigade appeared to Witchblade’s left. Midnighter, Rainmaker, Jenny Sparks, and Engineer appeared to her right.

“Both of your teams stand at four points and four victories each,” said Witchblade.  “The tiebreaker will be an all-out battle royale.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“Only match winners may participate,” Witchblade explained. “Therefore, Apollo and Shadowhawk will not fight.”

“That seems unfair,” Rainmaker complained. “In that case we’re missing our strongest member.”

Witchblade shrugged. “Wins and losses have consequences.”

She then stared directly at Rainmaker.  “Apollo can only blame himself for not being here to help his team. If he had defeated Suprema, your team would have already won.”

Badrock cracked his rocky knuckles. “This works for me.”

Supreme turned to him, “You’re eager.”

Badrock grinned. “I’ve been resting for a while now. I'm ready to get some more action.”

"In the interest of putting on the best fight possible…you have thirty minutes to recover and strategize,” Witchblade declared.

Supreme chucked in disbelief. “Thirty minutes? After the fight I just had with Prime?”

“You may forfeit if you’d prefer,” Witchblade suggested.

Supreme’s smile vanished. “Not a chance.”

Inside the huddle for the Authority, Engineer spoke first. Blunt as ever.

“They have a power advantage.”

Jenny Sparks leaned casually against a broken pillar.

“Good thing we’ve got the smartest woman in the building,” she stated.

Midnighter nodded. “Between Engineer and my predictive combat analysis… we’ve got a clear path to success.”

Engineer gestured toward the Brigade. “Midnighter, you’ve got Badrock. You already observed his entire fight with Impact. Use that data and your battle predictor. Take him down.”

Midnighter nodded again. “Done.”

“Jenny,” Engineer continued, “you fight Troll. Stay intangible. Turn into electricity when necessary. Disorient him until he makes a mistake.”

Jenny smirked. “Easy.”

Engineer took a breath.

“Rainmaker and I will handle Supreme and Glory.”

Rainmaker grimaced. “That’s… not ideal.”

“We’re the best options to hold them off until our teammates take down the other two and can help us,” Engineer explained. “Keep Glory at range with your storms or..”

“I know what will happen if Glory gets close.” Rainmaker sighed. “Lights out for me.”

Engineer looked toward Supreme. “As for him… I’ll keep him occupied.”

“You really think you can hold him off?” Rainmaker asked.

“I have a lot of tricks at my disposal, things I’m certain he has never dealt with before.” Engineer paused. “And if things go perfectly… I might even take him down myself.”

Midnighter grinned. “I like our odds.”

Rainmaker turned to him. “Give me any helpful information that brain of yours has computed on how to fight Glory.”

Over in the huddle for the Brigade, Badrock looked at Supreme.

“You good to go after that earth shattering fight we all just witnessed?” he questioned.

“I’m fine,” Supreme insisted.

Troll looked over to the Authority team. “They’re clever, we should be ready for anything.”

Glory crossed her arms. “They’re dangerous and if we don’t go at them focused, we could easily lose.”

She looked each of her teammates in the eye.

“We have the strength advantage, but they have cunning strategy with that Engineer woman and Midnighter. We all saw how he handled Shadowhawk.”

“So, we smash their strategy.” Badrock offered.

Glory shook her head. “We Fight smart.”

Supreme nodded. “Agreed. This is a team of heroes who has no doubt fought against overwhelming odds before and come out on top, just like us. They will not be intimidated and will have a plan to win.”

“If we fight them at our best and on our terms, we will win,” Glory declared.

“I’m just kinda stoked we get to fight as a team in this tournament, wasn’t expecting that,” said Badrock.

“Let’s give them a show,” stated Supreme.

High above the arena Witchblade raised her arms to the sky.

“The main event tiebreaker to decide the winner of the 90s Extreme Team Tourney will begin shortly!”

[Callisto]

Learn More About
The Authority
Read more about The Authority at Wikipedia
Official Site: DC Comics/Wildstorm Links: The Authority Wiki popmatters.com review Comicvine.com entry

Brigade
Read more about Brigade at Wikipedia
Official Site: Image Links: Wikipedia

[leroypowell3]

What's funny is I have a tournement idea kind of like this. That I would like to do. Kind of like a small scale fantasy draft where you pick a team of 3. They do battles and challenges individually, in teams and groups depending on who survives.

Anyway, Authority wins.

[DSkillz]

Good conclusion to your '90's Extreme Team Tourney arc, Johnny. I kinda wanted to see how the scuffle between the demonic and angelic ladies would've wrapped up, though.  

As for the match, even with Midnighter's Battle Computer and Engineer's calculus, I'm not sure the Authority can overcome Supreme's raw power. The Brigade might just win this thing. 

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
4.60 - DSkillz
5.00 - Venom 2009
5.00 - Boratz

FPA Calculation:
3 Total Votes cast
14.60 Total Combined Score
14.60 / 3 = 4.87 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
The Authority: 4
Brigade: 2

[SSJRuss]

Damn, can't believe I'd miss out on this entire thing. This is my kind of tourney and I love the images you used here.

This would have been quite the battle, and I would have voted Brigade.