Thrash of the Titan {Alexis/Atlas}

[Atlas]

It wasn't his first patrol since he'd been christened Atlas by the news, but it was perhaps the first one where he felt top form. The extreme effort he'd expended had paid off and he felt stronger than ever. Just by flexing he could fight crime! But instead he was patrolling in an all new way. He could jump between buildings now! It was pretty great when he managed to pull it off. When he didn't he would usually hit the ground between two buildings and break his leg(s). Painful yes, but it usually just meant his patrol was finished for the night, and a few hours later he'd be able to limp home, and by the next patrol his leg would be almost as good as new.

Tonight, his legs were good as new and the rest of his body actually felt better than new. His biceps were like an aged cheese, his traps like a fine wine. He was single and ready to mingle with some criminals and stop them from hurting anybody. At the moment however, he was in his costume, A on his chest with a ring around it etched with sulfur so that it would stay permanently. He'd liked the look of it on the news. Now he was just a'leapin' around skyscraper to skyscraper, and he just so happened to pass by the UN building. 

[Alexis]

The Warrior Princess? Alexis scoffed. What a foolish name. She understood that it was apparently some sort of reference to a television show. Emily had taught her what a television was and how it worked, not that she understood the fascination with it. Regardless, it was foolish. She was indeed a warrior. That she was proud of. But a princess? She was not royalty.

The soldier had been reading a newspaper story about herself and a few others being called "heroes." Ignoring her feels about the word heroes, she skimmed over the others the article talked about. Part of her mission here was to gain information on the other so called heroes and determine if they would be friends or foes. There was one name among the others that stuck out among the others. Atlas. The man in the silly looking green suit with an A on the front holding up a globe. True, it invoked the imagery of the Titan, not that that was comforting to Alexis. She had met the original Atlas with Hector once. Let's just say that after that meeting, she wasn't sad he was stuck holding the sky in place.

Besides that, this new Atlas seemed to have a mixed past. Some called him a hero, but he had also committed crimes. Was he simply a misunderstood hero, or was he a villain masquerading as one? Before she could think about this more, she saw something moving around on the nearby rooftops. A figure in a green suit. Atlas.

Alexis made her way up to the roof of her building, standing and watching as Atlas made his way from rooftop to rooftop.

[Atlas]

The song changed, iPod on shuffle, and Ajax's mask shifted around the mouth bits as he smiled. As he backed up to get a running start, he began to hum along with the song that played at the quietest setting imaginable. And it went a little something like this, "someBODY once told me-" and then he was in the air, sailing over to the next building through the starless sky. He landed with a roll, and then stood. "The world was gonna roll me! I 'aint the sharpest tool in the she-hed." Atlas decided it would be a good time to do one of his spot checks. He slipped his backback off and set it down, pulling his iPod out of the slightly open pocket he'd stuck it through with his headphones leading out. He paused the song then took his headphones out from under his mask and plopped the whole iPod down into his bag and stepped away.

Atlas walked over to the edge of the building and scanned the city. Nothing violent that he could see, nothing he needed to handle. He let himself look down, all the way down. That still shook him, especially near a main road with a lot of pedestrians. He'd hurt someone seriously if he fell on them from this height, there was no holding back from the full weight of a super strong man falling from floors in the twenties. If he fell here and got too hurt that he couldn't keep moving, someone would get to him immediately. That was less important than the people down there's safety, but he'd like to keep his identity a secret. He'd almost lost that secret.

The benefit of listening to his music while he was on patrol was that it was easier for him to ignore unimportant sounds. With his headphones out however, he could hear so so much. New York was a city that was incredibly loud, but since his hearing had become so powerful he felt like the step of every rat rung in his ears. That was another good thing about the rooftops, it was quiet. There wasn't much noise generated on them. So when a slight noise came from a different roof, Ajax spun around looking after what he believed he'd heard. Clearing his throat, Atlas called out, "Hey. If anybody's here I'd like to say that I'm a tourist from Spain and I could use some directions." 
  

[Alexis]

Alexis looked on as Atlas finally seemed to take a break. He took something she didn't recognized out from his ear and looked down at the city below. She was unsure what it was he was doing. Suddenly, he spun around and looked over towards her rooftop. At first she wondered if he could see her, but the foolish nonsense he called out indicated that he hadn't. From what she could, he had some sort of enhanced hearing. Perhaps that was what he pulled out of his ear? Something to dull the constant noise. If true, it would be a useful ability, but something that could be exploited if needed.

Taking a few quick steps, the Trojan easily leapt from her rooftop to the one Atlas was on, landing neatly. He was shorter up close, right around a full head shorter than she was. She kept her sword in its sheath and her shield on her back. If a fight were to break out, it would be fists only, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that. She scanned the man over. He had muscle, which she already knew from the picture of him holding up that globe. So, super strength and enhanced hearing. She wasn't sure if there was more, but that was a place to start.

The soldier from Troy took a few steps closer before speaking. "If that was an attempt at humor, it was poorly done. No tourist would wander up here. Besides, I know who you are. Atlas. Recently come into fame due to your heroics. And yet you've committed crimes as well. So, what are you Atlas? A misguided, so-called hero? Or a villain like your namesake?"

[Atlas]

Out of the shadows came a figure! It was... the most beautiful woman Ajax had ever seen. He really hoped he didn't end up having to punch her. She jumped across the gap between buildings with ease, and her landing was a good thousand times more competent than his. She managed to keep her feet. As she got closer to him the costumed teenager noticed just how tall she was, she was way taller than him, she was like a WNBA player. He noticed some other things too, but tried very hard to not betray himself as a hormonal kid. He stared at her eyes. He'd watched her on the news, and watched her take down that monstrous Lion, but he doubted it had given her much trouble. The way she walked had an air of confidence that Ajax couldn't hope to match. 

She apparently had not cared for his joke in the slightest. She didn't seem to actually understand why it was funny. "Yeah, that's why it was-" However, the woman kept speaking, and questioned him, on everything from his name choice to his motives and actions. She didn't sound like the super friendly type, she wanted to have a serious conversation. Her voice was like a woman in one of those old suffragette documentaries, powerful and unafraid of anyone. Ajax was willing to bet that he'd have liked her if she wasn't turning her commanding tone on him.

"Okay, in my defense the news called me Atlas, the A" Atlas touched the A on his chest in its circle, "was just for recognition. I haven't committed any crimes except, well, vigilantism. But I'd say I've been protecting people, that's my stake in things. What about you? What's the story behind the whole Xena thing?"

[Alexis]

Alexis stood and listened to his defense, which admittedly wasn't much of a one. He simply claimed the only crime he committed vigilantism. Others in the newspaper claimed other crimes including robbery and assault. In truth, she couldn't be sure what was true. It was difficult for her to give him the benefit of the doubt, as if you do that on the battlefield, that could be your end. This wasn't exactly a battlefield, though. She was torn.

Before she could move that line of thinking further, Atlas asked about her and called her Xena. Her head tilted slightly. From her memory, she knew there was a connection between that name and the Warrior Princess nickname people liked to call her but she wasn't sure what it was. "I am here representing the nation of Troy. It is my duty to help build bonds and learn the culture of this land. And once the monsters of the past began to appear, it became my duty to protect the innocent from their wrath."

She paused for a second before deciding to ask her question. "What is a 'Xena'?"

[Atlas]

Atlas' face would have showed a great deal of confusion had he not been wearing the mask. You don't meet a stranger, both of you in superhero costumes of different styles, and just nonchalantly bring up how you're an ambassador from a fictional place. Well, not fictional, but in ruins. He hadn't introduced himself as Atlas from Gondor. God, how cool would it be if he was an emissary from Gondor? Super cool. "Troy? As in Hector prince of Troy? Troy vs Achaea, the Iliad? Not to be confused with The Iliad 2: Iliad Harder." The teenager'd almost said Iliad 2: Electric Bugaloo, but he wasn't one to take the easiest way out. Iliad Harder was the medium way out, and he was a proud subscriber that when available you always take the Normal as opposed to Easy or Hard mode.

She asked him what a Xena was, and Atlas struggled with how to explain. "Okay, well, there was this American show about Hercules in the '80s. Then they did like this whole spinoff show about this character Xena who was a Warrior Princess. So she wore armor and fought monsters and all that. Big feminist hit, which was good, but it still wasn't a great show. A lot better than Hercules, but that's to be expected. They had him as a son of Zeus, but called him Hercules, which I don't have to tell a Trojan was his Roman name. Plus Kevin Sorbo was the guy who played him, and he was basically just some handsome guy they told to do push ups a few times, he didn't really look the Super Strong type.  Lucy Lawless played Xena though, and she was really good, I think the shows main problem was that it didn't have really great writing."

Atlas realized he'd been rambling. "Sorry, when I get nervous I talk a lot. Been discovering that a bit over the past few weeks."

[Alexis]

Alexis took a step towards the man in green. "You talk too much, Atlas. Many of your words make no sense to me, though I will inform you that the Roman Empire was after my time. It is apparent that you know not much about history, or you would have known. Only with our re-emergence have we started to learn what has transpired in our isolation, so fortunately I do understand your reference to the Romans." The Roman Empire was an interesting one. Alexis did not approve, however, of them claiming to be decedent from Trojans. What a foolish idea.

"As for your first comments," she continued, taking another step closer. "Yes, that Troy. The Iliad, however, it a butchered attempt to retell the story of the war. A way for the Greeks to make themselves seem greater than they were." The injustice of learning of that so-called epic had always rubbed Alexis the wrong way. The Greeks claiming they killed Hector. That they sacked and burnt the city. That they didn't even include her! It got her angry simply thinking about it, which caused her words to come out more fierce than she may have meant. "Take care when talking of my homeland. I will not stand for any insults toward it."

[Atlas]

Oh. Oh okay. So she was insane, that made a lot of sense. For Rome to be after her time, dear boy she would have had to have been over like, 2,500 years old. She was probably like, late twenties/early thirties, not twenty-five centuries. So probably at some point in the past year, something had given her her powers, and also caused her to go insane, so she probably needed help. Help Ajax wasn't sure he could convince her to take, and as long as she wasn't hurting anyone but monsters and the darker side of humanity, he had to guess that it was okay for her to be running around.

He put up his hands, "Hey, I'm not looking to talk trash about any Trojans. 'Cept maybe Paris. Oh my god-" Suddenly something flashed in his mind, he remembered something. A day in class a few weeks ago, when everyone had turned in a paper he'd completely forgotten to do one of the nights he'd been shot. A paper about the appearance of something, something he'd been too drowsy in class to actually pay attention to. Troy. Troy had shown up out of nowhere. Okay, so the Troy part was possible, but the agelessness wasn't. It couldn't be.

"Oh hey, you must hate Trojan Condoms right? 'Cuz the name?" As soon as he said it, he regretted it. She'd been very fierce when she told him to watch what he said about Troy, and he'd sat what he said about Troy down and gone into the other room. 
  

[Alexis]

Alexis felt her right hand clench into a fist. This man needed to be put into his place. It seemed as though he finally realized that Troy was indeed an actual place, but not before putting his foot in his mouth once again. While the soldier might have her own thoughts about Hector's younger brother, he was still a prince of Troy and she would not stand by while he was insulted.

And yet, the man in green wasn't done yet. He then decided to bring up something she had discovered early upon her arrival, the fact that someone thought it a smart idea to name a contraceptive product after her people. All their fancy technology and this world still didn't have a proper preventative method for pregnancy. Troy had solved that problem a millennia ago, which made it even more insulting.

Alexis took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I warned you, so-named Atlas, to trend carefully when it came to speaking of Troy. You have elected to ignore that advice." She raised her head and opened her eyes. "Now, you must answer for you blasphemy." With that, she dug her foot into the rooftop before pushing off. She flew across the building, aiming a punch square at his face.

[Atlas]

OH OH GOD NO. NO GOD NO. PLEASE NO NOT THIS OH MY GOD. Atlas got punched in the face. He got punched in the face, but it wasn't really a punch, it was more like suddenly the entire weight of the sun was condensed into a fist a bit larger than his and connected with his face. Dear lord her fist was huge. She wasn't aiming for his nose or his chin, and she hit both, crushing what felt like every bone in his nose. His neck snapped back with the force of a car going one-twenty stopping all at once. The vision through the goggley bits of his mask went blurry and the blackness on the edge of his vision closed in. She hadn't punched him in the stomach, but all the breath left his gut, and the the teenager suddenly felt his lungs burn like they were caught in a furnace.

When he'd had his fight in front of the Konn tower, the man hadn't been able to punch him like in a comic book, it was more like in a boxing match. A jab hurt, and a real good swing made you lose your feet and stumble back a few paces. When you're getting punched by someone near your strength, it doesn't move you all that much. The punch from the Warrior Princess sent him flying almost milliseconds after her fist connected to him, he flew, not very high, but pretty far. His body went completely limp, and turned over twice, and sailed over two other roofs, until Atlas landed on a roof hard enough to crash through onto a deck in the office on the top floor. He broke the desk, but he surprised himself, and managed to get to his knees.

"Ow." 
  

[Alexis]

Alexis watched as Atlas flew from her punch, landing three rooftops away and crashing down through it. She hadn't meant to send him flying. Apparently having super strength did not prevent him from being knocked around. Serves him right, though. She had warned him when it came to insulting Troy and he had not listened. She was still unsure of his intentions. He claimed he had noble intentions, and while she had no reason not to believe him, she also had no reason to trust his words.

The soldier took a few quick steps and began to leap from building to building until she reached the one Atlas had fell through. She took a step off into the hole and landed with a thud. Looking around, she spotted Atlas nearby on top of the destroyed remained of what looked to be a desk. Clearly, it wasn't the sturdiest of desks. Alexis had to admit, however, she was surprised to see Atlas slowly getting to his knees. After flying and crashing like that, she had thought she would find him in a crumpled pile unable to move.

Alexis took a few steps towards him as he gave a small cry of pain. Even in what she believed was great pain, he seemed to be able to make a wisecrack out of it. She stopped just short of the man in green. "I did warn you to watch your mouth."

[Atlas]

Ajax sat, massaging his jaw, on his knees in the middle of the empty bullpen cubicle zone of the top floor of an office building, he'd been punched over to it by a woman who claimed to be over twenty centuries old, and a Trojan Warrior. And he didn't have a date for prom.

His jaw still hurt like an Oedipus complex, and he couldn't even begin to feel his nose, he was pretty sure it had been mashed into a liquid on his face, and the adrenaline was keeping him from perceiving it as anything other than blood. The fall had miraculously only left him in pain, but he thought that he'd actually managed to go without breaking any bones below the collar, which was a new sensation for him doing just about anything. Still, breathing was hard, and other than the occasional vague sound he doubted he could say much clearly. His vision was cloudy, and sparkles of light played around every corner of his line of sight. The green clad man felt like it wasn't completely implausible for him to be worried over losing his vision entirely.   

Though his sight was blurred, one blink brought the Warrior Princess back into view. Looking up at her as she told him she warned him, Atlas pushed his head down twice in an attempt to nod, then said, "Faiwis faiw. Youw waewned me." Talking hurt his mouth, his lips were swollen aside from the damage to his jaw.  He massaged his mouth again, if he couldn't talk, how would he be Atlas.
 

[Alexis]

Alexis couldn't help but wince as Atlas attempted to talk. It seemed as though she had at least broken his nose and possibly his jaw as well. No superhuman durability, noted. She felt as though she should do something to help, as it had been her that put him this way. He had deserved pain, but this was more than she had intended.

Her armor allowed herself to heal from most injuries, but she had never attempted to use that power on another. In Troy, they had people with incredibly strong healing abilities that would take care of anyone who was injured, so it was never something she had to worry about. She reasoned, however, that the armor had it's protective forcefield and would trigger whenever the person in the forcefield was injured. Usually that was herself, but maybe she could include Atlas in that as well.

Crouching down in front of the man, she raised the same hand that had punched him but with an open palm. "Please, try to remain still." Moving gently, she placed her bracered hand lightly onto Atlas' face. She could immediately feel that his nose was indeed broken and a twang of guilt ran through her. She hoped that by doing so, it would allow for his face to be within this forcefield. Nothing happened at first, causing Alexis to become disheartened. She would have to think of something else. But then, her armor began to glow like it had in her fight against the lion and the light enveloped Atlas' face. She felt his nose slowly return to normal under her hand and she could tell it was working.

After a few seconds, the light faded away. When Alexis removed her hand, Atlas seemed to be as good as new. So, it was possible. Not practical in battle, but useful to know. "There, that should do it."

[Atlas]

The woman who'd punched him across the Manhattan skyline crouched down in front of him, and told him to remain still. Never before had he wanted to wiggle so much as her perfect face told him that he couldn't but with every ounce of strength he had left, he managed to keep from spasming across the top floor of the office. Her touching the mash that had been his nose sent a shiver of pain through him, but Atlas had decided that it was a time to showcase some masculinity. He fought back a wince, and the goggley bit of his mask got a bit wet. However, after a few moments, a light seemed to overtake her armor and then spun in a great fury in front of his face, and it was all that he saw. After some time with the glow, he felt his nose starting to form, and it quickly had become seemingly fixed. And straighter.

"I, woah. Thank you." Atlas jumped up, and paced a few seconds, the pain in his legs lessened. Placing his hand back on his face, the green clad man didn't feel any pain. He laughed, a few good hardy chuckles, and then put both hands against the sides of his nose. The mouth bit of his mask twisted as he grinned underneath it. Turning to the Trojan woman, he said, "Wow, I think you made me handsomer. I think my jaw's more masculine, and my nose, well, I haven't looked at my reflection but it feels like I might look like..." He couldn't make a pop culture reference. "Narcissus." That was Greek, but hopefully it wouldn't push anymore buttons. He'd hate to have his new great nose broken all over again.

"How many powers do you have? I'm just strong n' tough. And I can see really far. And hear really well. I think my smelling's better too. You're way stronger than me though, and you can heal stuff, that's gotta count for two."