Honor Guard vs. Paragon, Codename: Paragon

The fresh forest air filled his lungs, as he sprinted through the thick Virginia forests, to a small cabin. Brendan usually preferred the higher altitudes for hiding out, but was called into the Jeffersonian Institute in DC for a few high level cases, and chose out here to hide out as his alter-ego. He was also still trying to harness his powers better, and the privacy of the so called "haunted" woods allowed him to try in peace. He would try to make the run from the edge of the woods to the secluded old cabin at high speeds, but was still only able to either reach peak human velocity, or instant travel.

"Like hell, Brooke's going to be better at using my own powers than me...." he said before his 19th attempt. Like most scientists, Dr. Brendan MacAskill had taken a very scientific approach to tracking his progress, timing each attempt, recording heart rate, as well as setting up several remote cameras along his path to record each run. Every result was the same, and it was becoming a bit frustrating for him. Being more of a bones expert, all the musculature and other factors added to his chagrin.

As he sat in the cabin, going through his last three runs, the sound of an explosion off in the distance broke his focus. It was too far from the highway to be a car accident, and there had been stories in the news of several people going missing over the last few weeks. He concluded that this explosion may have some connection to the missing people, and accessed the ICE satellite feed of the area (Which he was also using to track his progress). By a sheer stroke of luck, the blast had occurred not far from the start of his run zone, meaning that whoever was responsible for it, wouldn't be far, and within range of his cameras. A few short keystrokes, and his laptop switched over to the live feed from the camera set up.

From what he could see, several trees had caught fire from the flaming wreckage of what he guessed used to be a dirt bike. "Only one person could have been on that bike for it to have been going fast enough to do that." he concluded from the footage. "So, looking for one person, who may be hurt..." He clicked through the cameras, and found who he was looking for. Along the wooded trail walked someone armed to the teeth in an armoured suit of similar design to Andferne's own vibranium suit. Paragon suited up quickly, and grabbed his sword. He hoped to catch whoever this was by surprise, since all the weapons he carried could pose a bit of a problem.

With a bright flash, he appeared behind the man, sword trained at his hamstring, hoping to slow him down, should he run, and spoke up. "You know, hunting season isn't for another few months, and I doubt you'll catch a duck or a rabbit with those weapons."

Dashing through the woods proved an easier method of travel than the dirt bike as it was easier to maneveur around obstructions. During his trek, James stumbled upon many devices including cameras which he disabled and stored in distinct locations he planned to return to at a later date. Who ever had placed them there was conducting some kind of research. Also it seemed as if the feeds we're all interconnected maybe linking to a database providing it a survey of the land. With a bit of rewiring James could trace the signal to the point of origin and maybe gain some information that could prove useful at a later date.  

The animals of the forest had become restless. The excitement of the explosion being the cause no doubt. The sirens as well a the random chatter of the animals only added to the high amounts of noise that perpetuates throughout the woods. It made it harder to focus but through great effort  Honor Guard could seperate the sounds and pinpoint external stimuli that might be signalling danger.

Dashing through the forest James stumbled upon a corpse. It was a girl, no younger than 20. Her flesh held deep wounds, most of the muscle tissue had been lacerated and then burnt. The only part of her untouched was her face. Like the killer wanted everyone to know who it was. The site of such injustice struck a cord deep inside james heart. Being the compassionate man he was he began to dig a burial for her. If a fireman or a ranger found the body the news would surely spread the story across the nation, the parents would be devastated and it would be a diservice to the woman herself.

But as he prepared to place the body in the dugout his instincts kicked in. A flash of light preceeded a powerful strike to the hamstring that brought Honor Guard down to a knee. Someone, familiar with Vibranium suits had cut right through the stitching, the suit's weak point and sliced through James' hamstring. The pain told him the attack left a 3-4 inch gash. The person was strong and swift to deliver such a move. They also had skill with a blade and knew a bit about the human body as well. From this first strike he'd learned enough about his opponent to figure out how to go about this battle.

Rolling forward his wound healed and as he rolled back onto his feet he made an immediate 180 degree turn with his pistol at the ready, aimed at his attackers head. The opponent offered a witty comment,  "You know, hunting season isn't for another few months, and I doubt you'll catch a duck or a rabbit with those weapons."James face stood stern his sight directly upon the man's cranium. He let off a shot aimed past his head, it flew into a camera behind the two of them. Another shot rang out taking out another camera. About four more shots rang out, eliminating the surveilance equipment within the area. James assumed who ever's database that was surely had friends and would call them in if things got a bit too hot for their liking. Right now his opponent had the homefield advantage and James wasn't about to be outnumbered as well. Once he finished with the cameras he placed his gun back in the holster and lurched forward with blinding speed. He'd closed the distance in half a second and letloose a cannon-like uppercut towards the bottom of his jaw. Honor Guard followed up with a leaping back kick sailing for the ribs with intent of crack a rib. "Oh and I don't hunt."

The blade sliced through the material with ease, drawing blood from the mystery man's leg. He spun around quickly, drawing a pistol, as a shot rang past his head. The crunch of electronics breaking behind him, made him cringe slightly, as those things were expensive. Five more shots, five more cameras gone. Paragon tried to add up the cost of the equipment destroyed in his head, but his thoughts suddenly drifted elsewhere.

The corpse of a young girl near the attacker, burnt almost beyond recognition, save for the face. He recognized this as a similar case that he was working on for the FBI at the Jeffersonian. Two other girls had already been brought in with similar deaths. All between the ages of 16 and 21, and all with unburnt faces, presumably from the killer placing masks over the faces. This one still looked more fresh than the others. Decomp had barely set in, leaving the face still very lifelike, and full of fear. The man instantly became a suspect, as he was standing over the body. Paragon opened his mouth, about to question the suspect before he suddenly sprang at him. A solid fist connected with his open mouth, nearly dislocating it, and sending Paragon staggering back into a tree. Another leaping kick landed square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"Oh, and I don't hunt." he retorted. This guy was fast and strong, to a point almost beyond human limits. "Another super soldier?" Paragon thought, as he spat blood into his mask. He thought most of the Sector 13 experiments were accounted for. Either this guy was new, or someone he had already met. Not recognising any of the soldier's movements, he concluded it was the former, as opposed to the latter. Knowing most super soldiers, this guy had experience with weapons, and most likely he was good with all the ones he had brought. Strategy would be key against him. If Paragon could keep this guy at range, he could at least rely on his danger sense to avoid bullets and whatever else the soldier could throw at him. With a flash, Paragon appeared behind the suspect, sending a strong kick to his lower back, while simultaniously reaching for the katana on his back, hoping to grab it, and toss it high into a tree out of reach.

"What are you doing out here?" he questioned.

The first strike landed perfectly and if not for Honor Guard's tendency to pull his punches the punch may have been much more fatal. His opponent stumbled  back, straight into the tree leaving his chest wide open for Honor Guard's follow up.  With a quick two step advance James through his momentum forward rising off his feet and performing a 180 degree turn clockwise before launching his right leg, heel pointed out, straight into the man's chest. He caught the sound of a sharp inhalation meaning his opponent had been winded by the blow. The man was unable to react to his speed but whether it was because he'd been surprised by it or not was to unknown.  

Turning to face Paragon he noticed he had a mask covering his face. This made it impossible for Honor Guard to figure out his thoughts and emotions. Only being able to read his body language would get him so far. His new goal became to remove that mask by any means. Based upon the glance he just got, the texture was inferior to that of his blades so a precise cut down the middle of it should relinquish it from his grasp without doing any true damage to the face. As Honor Guard reached for his Katana, the man disappeared only to reappear behind him once again with a spark of light, delivering a damaging boot to the bottom of his spine. James groaned in pain as he heard his Katana being unsheathed and tossed high into the trees. His acute senses picked up the blade lodging itself into a trunk of a tree a ways off.  It would impossible for Honor Guard to find it. James was a tactician. He picked up on the oppositions every move, interpreting it. This act of disarming told Honor guard that his opponent was not as well armed as him therefore seeked to even the odds. The constant teleporting let Honor Guard know he was faster than the opponent.  With these two pieces of information he formulated a plan to incapacitate his opponent. But this man was not without  great skill of his own and if Honor Guard's plan was revealed too soon he would be bested quite easily.

With surreal hand speed James unsheathed his Wakizashi and tossed it deep into the forest, the fine blade singing as it cut through the air. Taking the pistol he flicked it into the underbrush. All that remained were a few pouches decorated around his waist and daggers concealed in different places across the suit. Taking out one of the dagers he twirled it  in his hand as James sprinted towards him. The blade made beatuful arcs as it sliced through the atmosphere and danced around his fingers. Once within in attack range a loud bang went off, with Honor Guard appearing to dip to the left behind a tree. Then, as soon as the forest settled Honor Guard approached from the right his hand filled with crushed glass. With superb accuracy he flung the glass towards the foe's eye sockets with intent of getting glass in his eyes and severely damaging his sight for the remainder of the battle. He followed up with a wide swipe to the face, trying to cut through the mask. James pivoted around the man and for the last move he tried to deliver a pressure point strike to the spine to paralyze him temporarily. 

"What am I doing out here you ask? Well looking for you of course, Paragon." He boasted, a sly smile across his face. 

With the katana buried deep within the trunk of the tree and out of reach, Paragon gave a light smile. "One down, what looks to be a million more to go..." he thought. Paragon could see the gears turning in his opponent's head. It was a look he recognized, as he had seen it in both Andy and Nighthunter. He was planning something. Without warning, a small wakizashi was drawn, and thrown away. "What the hell!?" thought Paragon, as pistols were drawn, and followed the blade into the surrounding thick, green underbrush. "Either this guy really knows what he's doing, or he's dumber than a sack of hammers...But it does make my job easier."

The super soldier then drew out a small dagger. Nothing Paragon thought he wouldn't be able to handle at close range. He could keep him at arm's length with his sword, making the dagger almost useless, as he would be able to react to throws, and out of reach from melee. Paragon rushed in, only to have his target roll out of the way and behind a tree, and seemingly invisible. The forest around Paragon grew silent, with only the sound of the breeze passing through the leaves, and the crackling of the fire off in the distance. His radar sense suddenly went off on his right side, as he turned just in time to see the super soldier burst forth from the cover of the trees, and hit him with a fist ful of glass. The crushed pieces bounced harmlessly off his sunglasses, but managed to confuse him slightly. "Why the hell would he do that?" he wondered. That half second cost him however, as the dagger he so harmlessly passed off sliced through his mask and cut deep into his cheek. Crimson blood gushed from the cut, and stained the white fabric of his hood, and what was left of his mask.

"What am I doing out here you ask?" he said with a smile, as lunged in toward Paragon, delivering a hard blow to his spine, finding a small hole in his armour. "Well, looking for you of course, Paragon."

The attack his a pressure point, paralyzing Brendan from the waist down. He let out a grunt of pain, as the felling escaped his legs. Slowly, he collapsed to the forest floor, trying in vain to will the feeling back into his legs. The cut on his face was mostly healed, as the blood dried, making his face feel crusty and dry in places, while his chest and hood was still moist and stained. "Well, you found me." he said, "So what are you going to do now? You some sort of hero killer, looking to put another mask on your wall? No, you must be the sicko responsible that that attrocity, and the two others back in DC." he said, pointing at the poor girl's body, hoping to draw attention from what his other hand was doing. He had picked up a handfull of dirt, and continued talking. "Though, that looks too messy to be your style. You seem cool as a cucumber right now, and that looks rushed. Defiantely not you now." With the attention back on him now, Paragon threw the dirt into his opponent's face. "That's how you do it! Make sure they're not wearing eye protection! Boo-yaka!" With a flash, he teleported into a thick set of nearby bushes, hoping to lay low until he could at least walk again. Given his healing factor, he guessed it to be about two more minutes, but would he have that long?

The swiftness and speed took paragon for surprise, but the ultimate effect of the mind game was disrupted by the shades the protected the pupils of his ooponent from being filled with grinded glass. It was a foolish mistake to say the least, one Honor Guard would not make twice. Continuing with strike number two the dagger flew true, cutting straight through his mask, a piece of it falling to the ground. A gash lay upon paragon's Vanilla colored cheek and the scarlet liquid dripped slowly off of his face. To make up for his failures earlier Honor Guard used a new method of incapacitation. Pivoting around his foe James delivered a precise strike to an opening in Paragon's armor. This paralyzed the foe causing him to drop to his knees letting out a small moan of anguish.

   "Well, you found me." he said, "So what are you going to do now? You some sort of hero killer, looking to put another mask on your wall? No, you must be the sicko responsible that that attrocity, and the two others back in DC." he said, pointing at the poor girl's body. Honor Guard's gaze did not leave Paragon for a moment, his gray eyes were trained on every part of Paragon, from the cut that had healed on his face, to the other hand which grasped a fistful of dirt. It was an obvious but useful tactic, using words and gestures to distract the ooponent while an attack was formulated right under the assailant's nose. With every moment Honor guard gained new information on his opponent and once he'd gained enough he might be able to take him out. "Though, that looks too messy to be your style. You seem cool as a cucumber right now, and that looks rushed. Defiantely not you now." With the end of his sentence Paragon let the dirt fly and Honor through his hands up in front of his face protecting his eyes from the dark brown soil. Behind his arms he spotted a flash of light, meaning Paragon had teleported away from this area.

Bringing his arms down Wilson made a quick 360 look around too find his target had disappeared. "He sought refuge. His healing factor will rid him of the momentary paralysis much quicker and it seems that he's going to hide and wait it out. He must be somewhere close by Being the warrior he was, they're not the type to flee from an engagement." James thought as he hovered over the corpse he'd discovered before the battle began. His mind relayed the events of the fight, trying to surmise a list of abilities Paragon held. So far, he'd listed, teleportation, Healing factor, and upper tier physical abilities. As well as superior hand to hand combat.  He was sure of another power, one a bit more subtle than the others. When James emerged from the shadows with the glass in hand, Paragon immediately spotted him. Almost as if he was alerted to his presense. If Honor was right that meant his opponent had a danger sense which would make this battle harder than it already was. But James did not worry. He'd beat tougher opponents and if he kept his senses about him he'd emerge victorious once again.

Honor Guard's eyes studied the charred body detective mode active, searching for some clue as to where to conduct his investigation. Paragon would appear when he felt it advantageous and James felt he owed it to this woman to find her murderer. Crouching low James pulled off his vibranium glove and ran his fingers across the burns. As soon as his bare skin made contact a burning sensation ran through his entire hand. Wrenching his fingers back in shock Honor Guard began to study the area around the burn victim an noticed that there were no flammable substances in the vacinity. With the heat signature still fresh on the body James pulled out a pair of shades and placed them over his face. Tapping a miniscule button on the rim of the lense his view changed from normal to heat vision. He found a trace of the same signal trailing deeper into the forest.Collecting his katana and Wakizashi James fled deeper into the woods intent on finding the source of this killing.