Floating down from the sky, the screams of the damned still fresh in his mind, Paragon stepped onto the blood-soaked streets of Los Angeles. Before him stood a scene that could only be described as a massacre. Men, women and children lay brutalized with mangled bodies in the streets.
Even only analyzing what was before him for only a moment was more than enough for Paragon. Even during the worst of World War Three he had never seen something so cruel and heinous. The only thing that this reminded him of was what he saw in the aftermath of Navidad Caido.
Unable to stand the scene any longer, Paragon flew up into the sky at Mach speed directly into the clouds. High in the sky, he let out a roar of anger along with a grand shockwave of energy from his exosuit that cleared the sky of clouds. With the sky clear of any obstructions, he scanned everything around him while turning slowly in the air.
Paragon continued this until his vision landed on a certain exosuit user floating in the air above a stadium. Flying towards the exosuit user, instantly breaking the sound barrier, he drew back his fist. Reaching Rex in only the blink of an eye, his fist exploded towards her face, the sheer amount of energy in his grasp enough to warp the space around his fist.
Yet even with all that power in Paragon's grasp, a simple chain was all it took to stop him in his tracks. The nanomechanical chain wrapped around his neck and luckily for Rez, yanked him out of the air just as his fist was about to reach her head. Smashing into the side of a building, the chain dragged him through the concrete until he was slammed face first into the floor.
While Paragon floated off the ground, the chain unwrapped from around his neck and slithered down the street back to its owner. Peering up from the ground, he watched as Gravedigger strolled casually down the street towards him. And with a shroud of darkness covering his face, Gravedigger gave Paragon a sinister smile.
"You know now that I think about it." Gravedigger conversed in a casual tone. "I've never actually fought another Level Zero like ourselves."
"What the hell are you going on about?" Paragon questioned as his feet hit the ground.
"Well, I just found out that we, the strongest, are called Level Zero's by some. Me, you, Blackout along with the currently deceased Andromeda and Jokerman. We're considered the peak of strength, the strongest above all other exosuit users." Gravedigger spoke with a bit of excitement in his voice that scared Paragon.
Even after trying his best to avoid Gravedigger his whole life, there were multiple things he already knew about the man. The first is that he's a complete maniac that lets no rules exert any power over him. The second is that he has a deep-rooted hatred for Arazia. And the third is that he is a complete junkie when it comes to fighting those considered strong.
"Are you with that woman back there?" Paragon asked, his eyes beginning to glow red.
"I don't care much for working with others." Gravedigger informed. "But when someone comes to me with the offer of fighting one of the five strongest exosuit users on the planet, well... I just couldn't help myself."
Without a word, Paragon released a beam of energy from his eyes directly into Gravediggers chest. Raising his hand, Gravedigger blocked the beam with his palm which caused him to be pushed back quite a bit. Then right at the beam ceased its assault, Paragon flew into Gravedigger with a powerful punch to his face.
The punch sent Gravedigger flying up into the side of a skyscraper directly through a window. Paragon flew up into the building and grabbed Gravedigger by the face, smashing him up through multiple floors. He then let Gravedigger go draw back a punch that sent him flying out the top of the skyscraper.
Flying up into the air, Gravediggers' smile widened. He then outstretched his left hand, and a chain flew out of his palm and wrapped around Paragons leg. Raising his hand into the air caused the chain to jerk Paragon upside down into the air toward him. Then, jumping down through the air, he outstretched his right arm and clotheslined Paragon right back into the skyscraper.
Gravedigger landed on a floor in the middle of the skyscrapers, slamming Paragon onto the ground. This is where he then kicked him in the face, sending him through multiple walls and out the building. Taking a step forward, he walked slowly to the hole Paragon flew out of and examined the scene before him.
On the street below, Paragon stood with his back turned to Gravedigger. Like earlier scenes, this street was similarly filled with corpses. And at the feet of Paragon lay a hand too small to be that of an adult. Turning around slowly, he began to float up into the air until he became level with Gravedigger.
"Stop being so fucking dramatic and fight." Gravedigger moved into a defensive stance, his black energy clashing against the white energy of Paragon.
Phasing forward, Paragon punched Gravedigger right in the stomach, which sent him sliding backwards a couple feet. "You're disappointing me." Phasing forward while drawing his fist back he delivered an energy enhanced punch into Paragon's cheek, launching him out of the building into a skyscraper across the street.
Breaking through a window on one of the higher floors of the skyscraper, Paragon flew through multiple floors before smashing out the other side. But that was not all as he flew into another skyscraper, his body implanting into the concrete on the side of the building. Paragon then pushed himself off the building right as Gravedigger jumped off the skyscraper above him.
After looking up at Gravedigger, Paragon released a beam of energy from his eyes at Gravedigger. Yet even while midair, he was able to maneuver around the beam and land on the side of a skyscraper. Which is where he then jumped towards Paragon, destroying all the windows on the building.
Once in front of Paragon, Gravedigger kicked him down to the street below, creating a crater where Paragon hit the ground. Landing on the ground beside Paragon, Gravedigger grabbed his leg and threw him into a nearby car. And as he began walking toward the car, multiple chains shot out his wrist, piercing into the car and Paragon.
A sudden pull on the chains forced Gravedigger forward right into an uppercut from Paragon which sent him flying into the air. But before Gravedigger could go too far, Paragon pulled the chain down, jerking Gravedigger into the ground before him. Before he could act though, Gravedigger spun on the ground and kicked his foot out from under him.
Jumping up off the ground, Gravedigger caught Paragon with a knee to the face, sending him stumbling backwards. Paragon still stumbling backwards, was hit with a left hook to the face before he could react. After the left hook came multiple jabs and finally a kick to the face which sent him rolling down the street into a pile of bodies.
"I thought you were Paragon, THE American Hero, the man even Atroz Muerte himself fears." Paragon heard as he pushed himself out of the bodies, blood not his own covering his exosuit. "But looking down at you now...all I see is a fraud. A loser who's never had to fight someone as strong as himself."
Paragon turned his head to look up at Gravedigger and jumped up, trying to throw a punch towards his face. But missed when Gravedigger dodged to the side and sent a kick into his stomach. This kick forced Paragon to fall back to the ground and struggle back to his feet behind Gravedigger.
"I am utterly disappointed." Gravedigger stated mockingly, his smile fading to a frown.
"Sorry" Slowly rising off the ground, Paragon peered down menacingly at Gravedigger. "Didn't know it was my job to impress you." As he spoke, the amount of energy being produced from his exosuit skyrocketed, clashing with Gravedigger's energy.
The clash of black and white energy caused everything around the two exosuit users to fly away, clearing out the street. Drawing his fist back, white energy began to encircle Paragon's fist. Throwing his fist forward, the punch that was aimed at Gravedigger broke through the wall of white and black energy.
Gravedigger brought his arms up to successfully block the punch yet was still sent crashing down the street. He slammed through the wall of a building, barreling through it onto another street. Through that street, he crashed through the stadium's back entrance and landed on the main stage.
The stage where Yumi was performing live to an audience of a million mangled corpses. "You finally come to see me play?" She asked while whipping around to face Gravedigger.
Stumbling up off the floor, Gravedigger tilted his head and looked down at her menacingly. But before he could speak, Paragon phased up to them and hit Gravedigger in the face with an energy enhanced hook.
While still standing there for the slight moment he did before phasing away, Paragon analyzed the crowd of corpses then peered down at Yumi. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to kill you later." And without another word, he phased through the hole Gravedigger made in the front entrance after getting punched in the face.
In disbelief, Yumi simply stood there for a moment while looking out of the front entrance. "hmpf...buzzkill!"
Pushing himself out of the rubble surrounding himself, Gravedigger rose to his feet right between Atroz and Lone Star. Looking to the right, he smiled at Lone Star before looking left and smiling up at Atroz.
"Should have known you would not have been enough for the American Hero." Atroz grumbled.
Annoyed by this remark to no end, Gravedigger tilted his head to look up at Atroz. Tension filled the air as Atroz stared down at him with red glowing eyes. Then out of the corner of his eye, Gravedigger saw Paragon flying down the street towards them. And without a single bit of hesitation, smiled sinisterly at Atroz.
Gravedigger grabbed Atroz by the arm and pulled him directly into Paragon's path. "Then be my guest." Gravedigger laughed maniacally as Paragon sent a freight train of a punch into Atroz's face.
Gravedigger watched in slow motion as Atroz's skull mask broke on the left side from the punch. His laughter turning even more maniacal after seeing Atroz fly down the street through multiple cars and finally smashing into the side of a building.
"No concept of loyalty." Paragon stated before phasing up to Gravedigger and throwing multiple punches at his head.
Letting out a chuckle, Gravedigger dodged each punch from Paragon with minimal effort. "What would I need such a thing for?"
"Go deal with Muerte." Paragon ordered Lone Star as he dashed back, his eyes glowing red. "I'll be there momentarily."
"Momentarily?" Gravedigger questioned in his head while watching a punch from Paragon fly at him in slow motion. "He'll be there momentarily?!" Catching Paragon's fist centimeters from his face, he crushed it in his grasp.
Paragon let out a yell of pain before phasing back and releasing a beam of energy from his eyes at Gravedigger. After a moment Gravedigger suddenly phased behind him, grabbing the back of his head and smashing it into the ground. He then let go, grabbed him by the leg and tossed him into the side of the building closest to them.
While Paragon pushed himself out of the rubble of the building he was thrown into, multiple chains burst out of the ground around him. Grabbing the first two chains, he could only watch as another two wrapped around his neck and stabbed into his shoulder. The chain wrapped around his neck then jerked him back into the ground and began dragging his face through the rubble.
Paragon was dragged all the way out of the rubble and directly back to the feet of Gravedigger. With a sinister smile he reached down, grabbing Paragon's cape and raising him into the air. Three more chains slithered from Gravedigger's free palm, each stabbing into Paragon's body.
"Oh shit!" Paragon let out as he began to laugh, his white energy building up all over his body. "Thats starting to tickle!" A moment later, a massive shockwave of energy exploded from his exosuit, destroying the chains and sending Gravedigger sliding back through the street.
Landing back down on the ground, Paragon couldn't react as Gravedigger phased past him, a chain wrapping around his neck. Gravedigger then jumped off the ground onto the side of a skyscraper and flung Paragon into the building beside him. Pulling on the chain again jerked Paragon out of the building, slamming him into another skyscraper across the street.
Gravedigger jumped off the side of the skyscraper he was on, destroying the entire side of the building. While flying through the air he enhanced his entire body with black energy which led to him slamming into Paragon like a wrecking ball. The slam sent the two of them through the building and out the other side onto another street.
In the moment the two were above the street they traded multiple blows before hitting the ground. Gravedigger landed above Paragon, allowing him to slam his heel down into Paragon's face, then kicking him away. Rolling down the street, Paragon pushed himself off the ground into the air and began flying up.
But before Paragon could get far, Gravedigger phased up beside him and grabbed him by the face. "Where do you think you're going?" Gravedigger mocked with his sinister smile before throwing Paragon back down to the street.
Paragon hit the street below hard enough to create a massive crater which caused a building to fall onto him. After a moment, white energy exploded from the crater, clearing out the rubble. Preparing to jump from the crater, he was interrupted when Gravedigger flew down into him with an energy enhanced heel to the face.
Dust scattered throughout the street from the shockwave the attack had caused, black and white energy mingled throughout the air. After a couple of moments of complete silence, the dust began to settle, revealing the victorious Gravedigger standing atop Paragon with his foot resting upon his head.
"Hm" Gravedigger let out before stepping off Paragon and walking out of the crater. Once out of the crater he looked into the sky to see Rez floating above him.
"I was expecting that to be a little more evenly matched." Rez stated with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Lone Star stood motionless, only able to watch as Atroz rose from the ruble, a sizable chunk of his mask breaking off and falling to the ground. All that was left of his mask was the cracked portion on the right side that barely covered the side of his face and eye. Now out of the ruble, Atroz peered to the left to see Ian down the street walking towards him.
Atroz reached down to his waist and grabbed a bone hilt. Letting his red energy flow into the hilt, a massive blade of energy spawned from the bone. In its complete form, the hilt formed a two-handed longsword that was comparable in length to an average man. And it was that sword and his skull mask that struck fear into so many.
Dashing forward, Atroz slashed down at Lone Star, who dodged causing the blade to strike the ground. That single strike which Atroz threw out like it was nothing released an energy slash that proceeded to slice through the entire street, even cutting the stadium in half.
Glancing back while dodging another slash, Lone Star could only come to one conclusion. "What a monster." Jumping backwards, he fired his dual pistols at Atroz who phased the side before lunging at him. "Aw shit." He thought while watching Atroz's blade descend towards him.
But luckily for Lone Star, Ian arrived in time to dash in front of him and block the attack. Thanks to Paragon's earlier cheap shot, Atroz was weakened enough for Ian to actually be able to compete with his strength. Something he would never be able to normally do. Staring up into Atroz's damaged mask, Ian deflected his blade into the ground.
Ian thought this would give him a moment to try and counterattack Atroz but was quickly proven wrong. In a split second, Atroz ripped the blade up out of the ground and swung it upward towards Ian's face. Barely able to react in time, Ian jumped back before the blade took his head off.
Ian had heard stories around how powerful the Mexican warlord Atroz Muerte was. The man whose power could equally match that of Apocalyptic Returning's own Boss. The one who has a track record of slaying an Apocalyptic Returning member and multiple Infinium Commanders.
Instincts were screaming at Ian to run, fear spread throughout his entire body as Atroz walked towards him slowly. But he couldn't run, couldn't give into the fear. The man who had just killed Lina was standing before him and he was going to do whatever he could to make that bastard hurt.
Dashing forward, Ian jabbed his blade at Atroz multiple times in the blink of an eye. Not that something so simple would have much of any effect on Atroz. With minimal movement Atroz dodged all the jabs while taking slow steps towards Ian. He then deflected the final jab with a simple backhand before dragging his blade through the ground and slashing up at Ian with one hand.
Before the blade of Atroz's sword could reach Ian's face, a beam of yellow energy grazed the right side of his face. This caused Atroz to lose focus for a moment, allowing Ian to dodge the attack and jump backwards. Now annoyed by the continual survival of the rats before him, Atroz took a step back to think for a second.
Ian backed up into Lone Star who was aiming at Atroz with his rifle. "Ready when you are." Ian informed while Atroz took a step forward.
"Good luck partner." Lone Star fired off another beam of energy from his rifle, signaling Ian to get started.
Ian ran beside the beam up to Atroz and swung his blade up at him. But the blade only slashed through empty air causing dread to wash over his body. Whipping around, Ian could only watch as Lone Star's right arm was severed from his body with a single swing. Blood splattering across the ground and onto Atroz's skull mask.