Controlling the RAGE.

Patrick Back sat on a lawn chair wearing a khaki shirt, a pair of white and green swimming trunks, and his new sunglasses. He decided to take a break from running Back Multinational to enjoy some free time. And since the Syndicate had been disbanded just a while ago, he didn't have any evil schemes to do. So here he was, on his privately owned island enjoying the nice weather on the beach. While it would have been more exciting to be doing something sinister, Patrick knew that every now and then a nice peaceful activity would be appropriate. Without a care in the world, Patrick leaned back in his beach chair and picked up the tall glass of orange juice to take a nice long sip of the cold beverage. Once Patrick finished his sip, he let out a relaxing, "Ahhhh..." and set the glass back down.
 
In the midst of his relaxation, Patrick noticed something large and black heading down towards his island at a dangerously fast pace. Patrick let out a high pitch scream and ran around his beach chair and table to get off the beach and onto his specially made forest. Patrick hid behind a tree as he watched the object crash land. A deep voice came from the crater "Not a scratch on me..." Patrick calmly began to rub his chin. That voice sounded awfully familiar. A large blackish creature crawled from the hole and Patrick recognized him instantly, it was RAGE, a former Syndicate member. But he heard that RAGE had become more of a hero since the team had disbanded and there was no other reason for him to be here. Patrick confidently smirked as he grabbed the lowest branch of the tree that he was hiding behind and pulled it down with a lot of force. But instead of breaking off, the branch came down like a level and then returned to its original position when Patrick let go of it. Suddenly, the tree opened up to reveal Patrick's new and upgraded battlesuit. Even on his vacations, Patrick was always prepared. 
 
    
 A moment later, Patrick emerged from the forest covered neck down in a green high tech suit of armor. "RAGE." His voice was calm, confident, and friendly. It seemed more like he was talking to an old friend instead of a vigilante who was aiming to bring him down. "I heard some rumors about you turning over a new leaf. And I will give you my blessing for the new change. The world needs more heroes. But...." Patrick quickly flung his arm at RAGE to dramatically point at him. "-we have to test if you would make a proper hero. Are you ready to take on the nefarious DaggerKlutz?" He patiently waited for RAGE's answer. Part of him suspected that RAGE would answer in actions and not words. 

Rage stumbled at the sight of the green battlesuit. He hadn't seen anything like it. But he knew that if DaggerKlutz was using it, it was almost guaranteed to be a deadly weapon. Zach pondered if the parasite could compete with his technology. He liked science fiction, and he chuckled to himself for a brief moment before DaggerKlutz began to speak. Zach was living a little kid's dream: aliens and robots fighting each other.
 
Rage smiled, and his tongue slithered up into the air, waving in loop de loops. Slobber dripped from his jaws onto the sand, slowly forming a disgusting puddle of mush. The sun shining down on Rage's black form shined on the surface of his body, since the parasite was a sleek, almost liquid being. Four black tendrils formed on Rage's calves, and detached off of Rage's legs and pressed themselves into the sand. Zach could see through them, as if they had eyes of their own. And at the same time, they felt as if they were extra limbs. He had a plan, and he sent them slithering toward DaggerKlutz through the sand. "Oh, boss. Your blessing? That's so thoughtful. All I really ever wanted was your approval, and--PSYCHE!" As Rage exclaimed, four different spots of sand between Rage and DaggerKlutz burst upward, and the black tendrils lashed upward from the spots, and rushed toward DaggerKlutz's shoulders. They intended to wrap around his arms and hold him down.

Rage stepped back as the black smoke emerged from the silver cylinder. He wasn't a particular fan of fighting blind. He let out a brutish snarl on instinct and focused straight ahead, and his tongue retracted as his mouth closed. He was looking right at the last place he saw DaggerKlutz. He focused, and realized that the ends of the tendrils in the sand hadn't slithered back onto his legs yet. Through those submerged roots, he could feel DaggerKlutz's charge. He could literally feel the sand shifting as the suit's heavy frame pounded into the sand with each step. The adrenaline rush made everything slow down. And it was as if the parasite was giving him this rush, like it was somehow stimulating a massive flow of adrenaline to boost his focus. A hyper-adrenaline rush. Rage's form changed instantly. He could hear his own heart beating. His entire body slimmed down, back into the 6 foot tall frame Zach had. But he was still Rage, no doubt; just smaller, and more agile. "NO YOU DON'T!", Rage proclaimed, as he jumped roughly 10 feet into the air. His own words sounded slow, and he could still hear his own heart beat. Trailing from his feet were the roots of the tendrils, and they slithered back onto his legs and merged, sinking into his skin as if they were never there at all. He looked down as gravity took control of the situation, plummeting towards DaggerKlutz's point of attack.  Things started to speed up again, Zach's perception of the world was slowly returning to normal. He found himself wondering if a forced adrenaline rush from the parasite would maybe eventually put a strain on his heart. He decided in this instant to not overuse this power, even though he had really never used it before. His falling down would cause Rage to body slam DaggerKlutz, and even though he wasn't at his full, monstrous size, it wouldn't take very long to change back.

DaggerKlutz sprinted through the black cloud of smoke while attempting to tackle Rage off his feet. But when DaggerKlutz emerged from the smoke empty handed, he quickly glanced around to see where Rage went off to. Suddenly, he noticed the large shadow that was being cast on him. DaggerKlutz looked up and noticed that a six foot Rage was trying to land on him. The wide-eyed DaggerKlutz took a large step to the right, trying to avoid being landed on but Rage was falling too quickly. Rage landed on DaggerKlutz's left shoulder. The added weight was too much for DaggerKlutz to adjust to. So he lost balance and fell awkwardly to the ground. Since the battlesuit weighed so much, it had a lot of inertia. So instead of just hitting the ground and being down with it, DaggerKlutz went into a tumble and rolled over twice before he finally stopped moving. 
 
DaggerKlutz got on his hands and knees, making spitting noises with his mouth. The tumbling may have bumped his head a few times but the pain wasn't too bad. The worse thing was that as he was rolling he got a mouthful of sand now he was trying to get it all out. After DaggerKlutz spat out all the sand he could, he got back up on his two armored feet and pointed to Rage once again. "Not bad, that was a nice counter. I guess defeating you will be more rewarding than I originally thought." DaggerKlutz's trademark grin returned as a compartment on his left forearm opened up. He pulled out a small rod that soon extended into a three foot long staff. DaggerKlutz began to do some childish movements with the staff, trying to intimidate Rage with his staff-wielding skills. After a few moments of pathetic, easy-to-do trick, DaggerKlutz charged at Rage. He was just going to wing it and just hit Rage as many times as he could with the staff. The fact that it would electrocute Rage each time it hit him would only have each hit more painful.  

As DaggerKlutz wielded the staff, Rage tilted his head to the left. "This is one of the most dangerous supervillains?", Zach thought to himself. He had expected someone who would take the fight a little bit more serious, but then, someone who was overconfident might not have a problem with messing around in this fight. But when DaggerKlutz ran at Rage, it took him by surprise, and he abandoned any thoughts that underestimated him. Rage stepped back, planting his feet in the sand to brace for the impact, since he figured that it was just a regular staff. He hadn't yet transformed back into his full form, the 12 foot monster, but he figured he could withstand the hit with just his regular body size and Rage covering him. When the blow struck his right shoulder, he let out a fierce roar as the electricity coursed through him. "SON OF A-" His body grew back to the monstrous 12 foot frame instantly, and his voice changed halfway through his exclamation, back into the monstrous slurring sound. He let out a chain of continuous snarls and growls, venting his frustration. "Such an idiot! IDIOT! He was obviously not just using a regular staff!", he thought to himself.  As he changed, he lashed out both of his bulging arms from his chest, and if they hit DaggerKlutz, it would be akin to being backhanded; the force would, he hoped, be enough to smack DaggerKlutz backward a few feet so that he could take a moment to assess how fast he could recover from the sudden jolt of electricity. He wasn't sure what Rage's exact limits were, since he had never fully tested them. Up until a few weeks ago, he was just a theif! No one had challenged him. No one that could put up a good fight, anyway.

DaggerKlutz grin when he struck Rage with his electrical staff. The look on his face was priceless, he looked shocked. But when Rage instantly grew six feet taller, the grin on DaggerKlutz's face turned into a surprised frown. With little time to react, DaggerKlutz took the full force of Rage's counter and flew several feet backwards and landed on the sandy beach, again.
 
DaggerKlutz quickly got back on his feet. Instead of having an annoyed look on his face, he appeared more to be curious than anything. DaggerKlutz brought his hand to his chin and stated, "You appear to dominate physical frontal assault." DaggerKlutz was eying Rage as if he was in no danger. "I guess I will have to go for more of a...." DaggerKlutz's voice trailed off before he quickly turn around and excitedly yelled, "-Ranged combat style." A piece of the battlesuit's back opened up to reveal a tiny missile. The missile shot out and flew towards Rage. DaggerKlutz turned back around so he could face Rage and he explained, "That is a heat seeking missile. It will follow you wherever you go. But it gets worse for you from there. That missile is full of a thick purple adhesive goo. Once it hits you, you will be covered in the stuff and unable to move. I guess you should have picked an easier villain." DaggerKlutz exclaimed as he brought his hands to his hips and began to chuckle. He wanted to see what futile maneuvers Rage would try to use to avoid the missile, if he even tried to avoid it.  

Rage slammed his fists into the sand, his knuckles smashing down, as DaggerKlutz flew backward and landed on the sand. Rage lifted his head and reared it back, letting out a roar from the bottom of his stomach, a roar that echoed; seagulls flew away from the coast as far as one could see. But then, as DaggerKlutz stood, Rage looked down toward him. "HA HA! Pathetic! There's nothing that can stop me!", these sort of thoughts raced through Zach's mind. It wasn't an adrenaline rush he was feeling, but it was some kind of natural high. He was beating down one of the most feared villains. As DaggerKlutz started to talk down to Rage, like he was in no danger, about his strategy, Rage hissed and spit at the air. His tongue hung low, and saliva dribbled down, as the tip of his tongue brushed against the sand. He was barely paying attention, and then DaggerKlutz turned around, and fired his heat seeking missile. 
 
"That is a heat seeking missile", DaggerKlutz explained, as it shot toward him. Rage's white, patchy eyes widened. "I--" before he could finish, a strategy formed in his head "--HATE YOU--" and so, he jumped up into the air by about 20 feet, using his monstrous strength "--SO MUCH!!!!" and the missile followed him into the air. Once he was in the air, he swung his arms out and aimed down at DaggerKlutz. The black that covered the top of his hands formed points, and shot down as tendrils. These tendrils were not like the others, not inky black tentacles, they were solid, like cables. Rage usually used these for transportation, to swing around. They shot down, and their ends formed sharp points in the air just before they collided with the sand; bursting dirt into the air at each impact point. Rage used his upper body strength to pull his massive form down toward DaggerKlutz, and the missile followed. His plan was to land right in front of DaggerKlutz, and then jump over him so that the missile would directly impact either the ground or DaggerKlutz himself; either way, the adhesive goo from the missile's detonation would probably catch Rage's target. 

DaggerKlutz let out a yelp as he took a few steps back to avoid Rage landing on him again. A cloud of dust flew up into the air as Rage hit the ground. Before the sand could settle back to the ground, Rage jumped once more but this time it was way over DaggerKlutz's head. DaggerKlutz let out a disappointed sigh as the missile went over his head. He turned around to face Rage and asked, "Did you think I didn't include a safety device in the suit to protect me from my own missiles? I even designed my missile so it wouldn't hit anything within twenty feet of me. You are going to have to try much harder than that to beat my missile." 
 
With Rage busy with the missile once again, DaggerKlutz decided to fetch his electrical staff. He dropped it earlier when Rage hit him. So DaggerKlutz casually walked up to his staff, knelt down, and picked it up without incident. He stood back up and said with his back turned towards Rage, "You know, I've noticed that you are more active as a hero than you were as a villain. Personally-" DaggerKlutz turned around to see how Rage was fairing with the missile. "I like that in a hero."

As Rage flew over DaggerKlutz from his first attempted plan, he turned his head back to see if it had worked. The missile flat out avoided DaggerKlutz and continued to go straight for Rage.  "Did you think I didn't include a safety device in the suit to protect me from my own missiles?", DaggerKlutz asked. Rage hissed and let out a gutteral snarl. His massive form smashed into the ground, sending sand up into the air and creating a miniature cloud that only lasted a few seconds. It was then that Zach gave into the parasite's instinct. Rage turned around to face the oncoming missile, and then he stood up straight. He shut his white, patchy eyes, and started to grit his ferocious teeth. He held out his hands so that his palms faced the missile. His palms seemingly exploded outward, toward the missile. A dozen solid, sharp tendrils had lashed out from each of Rage's palms. Hopefully, this would make the missile detonate, and then, Rage could slice off the excess tendrils and avoid having to deal with the adhesive goo.

DaggerKlutz watched in amusement as Rage finally stopped moving and actually stood there, he seemed to actually be waiting for the missile to hit. For some, this action would mean that the person gave up on avoiding it so they just wanted to get it over with but Rage wasn't that type of person. He had a bountiful amount of energy and he was who would fight til the bitter end. So DaggerKlutz waited to see what Rage had in mind for his unusual action.
 
The missile was getting closer to Rage. While it did lose some distance when Rage tried to escape it, it was now heading towards him with no difficulty now that he stopped moving. When the missile was within arm's reach of Rage, he shot his fist towards it as inky black tendril extended outwards. DaggerKlutz grinned at the scene and said, "Clever..." The missile exploded in a mass of splattering purple goo. It just covered every inch of Rage's tendrils but only tiny patches of his actual body had any of the purple goo, his tendrils took the bulk of it. Rage's tendrils began to pull towards each other because of the adhesive goo. But they were soon no problem for Rage, the tendrils just fell off his fist and landed on the ground with a 'squish' noise. DaggerKlutz nodded his head and said, "Impressive. Most people actually get stuck in that goo but you were able to avoid it." DaggerKlutz held out the electrical staff as to warn Rage not to come any closer to him. "But I still have dozens of tricks left in this battlesuit. You are nowhere near victory while I am getting closer every second." DaggerKlutz just stood his ground, waiting for Rage to attack. Since he still had the staff in hands he could deal more damage to Rage than any damage Rage could cause him. And since Rage had no long range attacks, he would be forced to come close enough in striking distance. Then DaggerKlutz would just hit him a few times with the staff to show him why he is called the Bald Baddie. DaggerKlutz grinned at Rage and motioned to him to come closer with his free hand. 

Rage turned towards DaggerKlutz, and his monstrous form hunched over. He glared right at DaggerKlutz. And his white, patchy eyes squinted. "Y'know. My first plan was to just punch you in the face a few times, and drag your unconscious body back to civilization. That clearly won't work. So now..." Rage's tongue slipped out from his fangs, and hissed before slithering back. "I'm going to tear your legs off. Then I'll rip that stupid suit off you, and throw it in the ocean. And then, I'm going to smack you around with your severed legs, before I set fire to this little getaway of yours. And THEN I'll drag you back to civilization." Rage leaned forward and started running straight at DaggerKlutz. Sand kicked up behind his massive feet. Rage held out his massive arms, intending to rip DaggerKlutz apart. 
 
DaggerKlutz stopped this charge by jutting his staff out. The end of the staff slammed right into Rage's lower jaw. Rage's body lit up with electricity, and Rage let out an ear shattering roar, stopping his massive form in his tracks. Rage stepped back a foot, and then swiped his massive left arm at DaggerKlutz; but this too was met with the end of the electric staff. "STUPID CHEAT!!" After another roar, Rage shoved both of his hands into the sand beneath him and DaggerKlutz. Then Rage swiped both of his arms up at the same time; effectively throwing sand right at DaggerKlutz's eyes. This would hopefully blind DaggerKlutz so that Rage could swipe again and make an effective hit.

The rant Rage was using in an attempt to intimidate DaggerKlutz didn't interest him. He didn't find his empty threats to be of any concern since; one, DaggerKlutz was dominating the battle and; two, Rage was not as violent as he let on. DaggerKlutz knew that Rage would stop as soon as DaggerKlutz was no threat so if worse comes to worse then the only thing DaggerKlutz would suffer is the horror of watching the destruction of a brand new battlesuit. But he was not going to let that happen anytime soon. He intended to make Rage regret coming to his private island and confronting him like this.  
 
The moment Rage was done speaking, he charged full speed at DaggerKlutz. DaggerKlutz grinned as he thrust his staff forwards at Rage when he got too close. The moment Rage showed pain to the electrical currents flowing into his jaw filled DaggerKlutz even more with confidence. When Rage tried to backhand DaggerKlutz, he shoved the electrical staff at Rage's palm to teach him to fight smarter. And it seemed to deliver a quick message to Rage. He took a few steps away from DaggerKlutz and yelled, "Stupid Cheat!" He stuck both of his hands into the sand and threw a gust filled amount of sand at DaggerKlutz. DaggerKlutz instinctively closed his eyes but the moment his eyes were shut, Rage took the opportunity. Once again he backhanded DaggerKlutz's battlesuit, making the Bald Baddie fly a few feet to the right. DaggerKlutz landed on the ground with an 'unpth'. He impatiently got up as he made some spitting noise. "I think you threw some sand in my mouth." DaggerKlutz impatiently complained. He tightened his grip on the electrical staff and charged at Rage while letting out a battle roar, but it was more pathetic than fearsome. But at the last minute, DaggerKlutz just stopped charging forward and then he just poked at Rage's feet with the staff. Since his range with the staff was greater than Rage's arm reach, DaggerKlutz knew that he could safely zap Rage's toes without being in much danger. But he wasn't intending to defeat Rage like this. He just wanted Rage to lose his temper. Then Rage would be more likely to make rash impulsive decisions. The moment that happens, DaggerKlutz would be able to defeat the monstrous Rage through intelligence alone.      

Rage let out a sinister, distorted laugh as DaggerKlutz flew and hit the ground. Rage snarled and crouched, glaring toward DaggerKlutz as the bald baddie got up. "I think you threw some sand in my mouth." DaggerKlutz complained. Rage's chuckled and slobbered at DaggerKlutz's discomfort; hoping to up the ante and turn it into pure agony soon. When DaggerKlutz tightened his grip on the staff and ran at him, Rage expected a full on attack, and he tensed his body up. But DaggerKlutz's surprising method took Rage by surprise, that method being a mere jab to the toes by the staff. Electricity began to course through Rage's legs. Rage tossed his hands into the air and held his head back, letting out a monstrous roar and spitting up globs of warm saliva. DaggerKlutz withdrew his staff, so that he could jab again and give Rage enough incentive to lose his temper. But Rage had an idea, and so, Rage slammed both of his arms down, toward the staff. Rage used full force, and he hoped that his massive strength combined with the weight of his fully formed arms could break the staff, or get it out of DaggerKlutz's hands for just an instant. If it was taken from DaggerKlutz's grip, then Rage would let loose a flurry of tendrils, grab it and toss it into the ocean. If it broke, then Rage would uppercut DaggerKlutz with both his massive fists.

It's always amazing just how effective it was to slow things down and use your brain when handling a problem. Sometimes you can achieve what you could not by letting your fury take you and charging into the problem head on. DaggerKlutz poked Rage's toes, glad that he did not charge close range to the six foot tall foe and try to fight Rage. It was so much more convenient to just electrocute his toes.
 
After a few pokes, Rage threw his massive arms into the air and let out a fearsome roar. DaggerKlutz grinned, thinking that Rage would try to charge forward while DaggerKlutz still had his staff sticking at him. But Rage didn't let his anger overwhelm him. He used his intelligence to assess that he would gain nothing by attacking DaggerKlutz. With a powerful slam, Rage brought his hulking forearms down upon the staff, breaking it apart as if it was just a twig. Splitters of the metal flew in all directions as DaggerKlutz watched in horror as the same arms that ruined the staff come up for an uppercut. DaggerKlutz knew that there was no way he would be able to step back and avoid the punch in time. So he compromised by sticking his armored chest out and pulling in his vulnerable chin in. Rage hit DaggerKlutz square in the chest and pushed DaggerKlutz back. The punch was strong enough to make DaggerKlutz skid back several inches, the newly formed tracks in the sand made that clear. 
 
DaggerKlutz quickly glanced down to see that his battlesuit was still in one piece and had no dents so far. Then he began to laugh loudly. He dramatically pointed at Rage and announced, "Ha! My battlesuit is durable enough to withstand anything you can throw at me." DaggerKlutz took one confident step forward and said, "You are outclassed here, Rage. I have every advantage. I have superior intellect, immense durability, home field advantage, and enough gadgets to bring you down to your knees." With the finger that DaggerKlutz had been using to point at Rage, he motioned for Rage to come forward and give DaggerKlutz his best shot. He had a plan for a counter attack that would dispirit Rage. 

It worked! Rage hissed as DaggerKlutz was driven back in the sand from the uppercut. Rage watched as DaggerKlutz checked the front of his armor, and began to gloat. "Ha! My battlesuit is durable enough to withstand anything you can throw at me.", DaggerKlutz exclaimed. "Yeah, but your legs are gonna shred like paper when I rip them off", thought Zach. "You are outclassed here, Rage. I have every advantage. I have superior intellect, immense durability, home field advantage, and enough gadgets to bring you down to your knees.", said DaggerKlutz. Rage let out a low growl in response to DaggerKlutz's superiority complex. And then, Rage said, "I'm literally going to eat your kneecaps." Just after that, Rage's body shrunk down, his monstrous mass morphing into a 9 foot tall form, the muscle frame shriveling down to a medium size - still unattainable for a non superhuman. Then, Rage tilted his head to the left and cracked it, and then to the right doing the same thing. He shrunk down because he figured that he could be faster and more agile, while still maintaining a huge build. "And I'd ask if your mother taught you to never point at anyone, but I just don't care. So how about I take that finger?". Rage threw out his left hand and clenched his fist. The top of his palm formed one solid tendril and shot out, the end of the tendril expanded like an ink blob. Rage intended to grab DaggerKlutz's finger, and by extension his hand, with this; and then pull him close and headbutt him directly in the face, with enough force to either break his nose or knock him out. 

DaggerKlutz almost let out a chuckle with Rage shot one of his tendrils towards DaggerKlutz's finger. He knew right away what Rage was planning and it was going to be sweet to see it all backfire on him. With no struggle, DaggerKlutz allowed himself to be pulled towards Rage. Soon he was so close to the nine foot tall Rage that he could smell his rancid breath. DaggerKlutz ignored the smell of his opponent's breath and said, "If you thought that the electrical staff was bad then you are going to find this atrocious." In an instant, a buzzing noise began to come from the battlesuit and blue jolts of electricity jumped off the suit and onto the tendril that held onto DaggerKlutz's finger. If all went according to plan then the electrical bolts generated by the suit would travel through the tendril and give Rage a good shock. But DaggerKlutz was not finished, even if the electrical counter did not work DaggerKlutz was not going to waste a good opportunity to deal Rage a painful blow. Without giving Rage the opportunity to strike him while he was still so close, DaggerKlutz folded his armored hands together and attempted to return the uppercut Rage gave him earlier. DaggerKlutz was certainly not pulling any punches for his former teammate.
 

Rage figured that DaggerKlutz would have a counter in hand, which is exactly why he used a tendril instead of grabbing him with his arm. The blue electricity coursed up the tendril, but with a mental command from Zach, the part of the tendril that connected to Rage's hand burst, turning into dust. The tendril fell to the sand and withered. In that instant, Rage saw DaggerKlutz's folded arms, and an opportunity presented itself. "HA HA! BOTTOMS UP, BABY!" Rage shouted, as his inhuman mouth widened. Rage was against morphing on a molecular level too much, putting himself back together was risky; but he couldn't help but take this chance. His mouth grew to be twice the size of his body; it was cartoonish in size. A gust of horrid breath flew out from the transformation, and Rage's tongue melded to the roof of his mouth, so it wouldn't interfere with the process. As DaggerKlutz's arms approached in that split second, Rage slammed his jaws down. Hopefully, his jaws would lock around DaggerKlutz's arms. Rage would then bite down as hard as he could, and hopefully do some kind of damage to the suit.

As DaggerKlutz flung his two fists right at Rage, the nine foot tall vigilante opened his mouth beyond human capabilities to the point where DaggerKlutz's fists were inside his mouth. Before DaggerKlutz had the chance to pull his arm's away, Rage bit down. The sound of crinkling metal could soon be heard from the gaps in Rage's jaw. DaggerKlutz looked at Rage with a flabbergasted look on his face. He couldn't believe that Rage had just bit him like that. DaggerKlutz frowned and stated, "It will take me hours to fix the forearms of the battlesuit now. You just ruined a perfectly new battlesuit." Then the noise of electricity rung through the air and more bolts zapped from DaggerKlutz's battlesuit. Since he was so close to Rage and his arms were literally inside his mouth, there would be no way for Rage to avoid the attack. He would soon feel volts rushing through his head. This would be the equivalent to Rage biting down on an active power line. 

Rage's white, patchy eyes widened from the electricity. He literally glowed blue for a moment, as the pure surge flowed through his entire body. Every single nerve screamed at once, from the top of his scalp down to the bottoms of his feet. The parasite hissed inside Zach's brain; inside every single molecule, from the pain. But Zach and the parasite bit down harder because of this agony. Rage's form was odd looking now; his face was morphing like a blob, parts were human, and parts were black and inky. Most of Rage's body was morphing all at once from the shock. He looked like a humanoid blob. The only sound he made was a very high hiss. But Rage's teeth and jaws remained solid, and he pulled back his head, still biting down. Rage hoped that this would be enough to rip the armor covering off of DaggerKlutz's arms, and that from there, Rage could make more progress on removing the suit and taking the venerable DaggerKlutz down. His body would then reform as it always did after morphing.

Even with all those volts running through his body, Rage still had his jaw clapped down on DaggerKlutz's forearms. But Rage was beginning to suffer some of the effects of the electrical charge, his black suit was beginning to deteriorate on him and it was weakening, quickly. Rage knew that he was in a tough situation, DaggerKlutz could tell by the way he started to damage the battlesuit even more by pulling his head back. DaggerKlutz smirked at Rage's attempts, sure it would scratch the metal even more but it wouldn't be enough to completely destroy it. In fact, the battlesuit could still probably function just as well as it could before, the holes Rage created would not limit any of the functions, but it would make DaggerKlutz feel like the event wasted a very good paint job.
 
DaggerKlutz decided that he would need to do something more to stop Rage from tearing the metal any further. Already he was ruining the stylish design DaggerKlutz worked on so hard. This battlesuit was meant to compliment his genius through its powerful capabilities and stylish look, it wouldn't be complimenting if the arms looked broken. DaggerKlutz opened his fists and fired out a huge burst of hot water vapor. Not only would this cool down his suit's mechanical systems but it would also might force Rage to let go. Having this hot water vapor burst occur in your mouth would be like swallowing a whole gallon of steaming tea.  

Rage pulled back and fell straight down to the sand on his back, the shock of the heat was too much to take in while recovering from the electricity. Rage's body morphed, it was like a puddle that had a pebble thrown in, he was literally rippling. But this started to slow down, and stop in the next few moments. Rage's body formed back at what he was before he bit down. His ferocious mouth returned, and his tongue rolled from his fangs, and the tip hovered just above the sand. Rage then pulled himself up by his hands, digging into the sand for support. Rage looked up at DaggerKlutz. He expected a full on assault; but Rage also wanted to see how much damage, if any, he had done to the suit. He hoped something could work, if only he could think of what to do.

Rage finally released his grip on DaggerKlutz's battlesuit. He opened his mouth and fell backwards on his back, Rage appeared distorted and weakened. DaggerKlutz grin returned as Rage's composure returned, he had just realized Rage's weakness and he intended to use it against the new hero. "Well Rage, you really did some damage to my battlesuit." DaggerKlutz placed his arms forward to show all the bite marks and tears in the battlesuit. Unfortunately for Rage, the damage didn't look too bad. The arms were still functioning and nothing was actually broken. The suit's arms just looked worn out. DaggerKlutz continued to speak, "And speaking of doing damage; did you know that your powers are probably caused by enzymes. While these proteins are able to grant you superhuman feats, they can denaturalize. So if you were ever placed in unfavorable situations, such as extreme heat or unfavorable pH levels, then your enzymes will be unable to function."
 
DaggerKlutz aimed his right palm at Rage. "So all I need to do is continue to take you out of your optimal condition and this battle is all mine. Maybe when you are defeated I can take a sample of these enzymes to study." A burst of hot steam was blown at Rage, this one was slightly hotter than the previous one.
 

Rage snarled as the hot steam slammed into him. He gripped the sand between his fingers in pain; usually fire was what did the job, but this steam wasn't weak by comparison, it was working. "GRRRRAGAGGHHH!!!!!" he shouted, and continued to shout. After the short jolt of steam, he looked up at DaggerKlutz, breathing heavily. Rage shoved his claws into the sand as deep as he could, and then he threw his arms forward. Rage let out a snarl as the sand flew up, a miniature cloud headed right for DaggerKlutz's face. He hoped to blind DaggerKlutz and prevent him from doing anything more. And if not, he wanted DaggerKlutz to at least shut his eyes, so that Rage could morph his body into a more manageable 6 feet in just a split second - still with a monstrous build - and then run up to DaggerKlutz and punch him square in the jaw. The impact of this blow would probably give DaggerKlutz a broken jaw, or worse.

Rage was weakening and DaggerKlutz knew it. In a desperate attempt to distract DaggerKlutz, Rage threw another handful of sand at him in hopes of blinding the Bald Baddie. But DaggerKlutz already fell for that trick once and he wasn't intending on falling for it again. As the sand soared towards DaggerKlutz's face, he just lifted his arm a little higher and shot out another burst of hot steam, blowing away the sand to ruin Rage's chances for his much needed distraction.
 
DaggerKlutz began to extinguish more hot steam upon Rage in order to keep him weak. The steam was not too warm but it was consistent enough to keep Rage in place. "Come on Rage." DaggerKlutz said. Unlike before, he had a completely serious tone in his voice. It almost seemed like he was lecturing Rage. "You wanted to become a hero, here's your chance. Things are looking at their worse and you feel defeated. Most would give up by now and there is nothing wrong with that, you've played a good battle. But..." DaggerKlutz paused for a moment to build tension. "You aim to be a hero. A true hero will focus his rage and continue forward, showing that persistence and a strong moral code is all you need to make something better. So who will you be-" The steam blown on Rage began to get warmer. "Rage, the vigilante who does his best to do what is right or Rage, the hero who goes beyond his means to accomplish what is right? It is your choice. Be a hero worthy of being my enemy or continue to be a lost vigilante who is still searching for his purpose." DaggerKlutz gave a blank glare at Rage, awaiting his choice.

Rage's tongue slithered into his mouth and his teeth came to a grit. Rage's entire body tensed up, and his white, patchy eyes went fully wide. It was another hyper-adrenaline rush; but the parasite wasn't in control this time. Zach was making it happen, forcing it to against its advice. It kept telling him in his head, "Flee." over and over, mimicking his own voice. "Survive another day. FLEE." it seemed to scream in his head. But Zach screamed back,  "NOT WITHOUT HIM!!" in his own mind. Everything began to slow down for Zach, and once again he could hear his own heart beating. Ba-bum. Rage pushed his own body up, and stood to face DaggerKlutz. Ba-bum. Rage thrust his hand out, and grabbed DaggerKlutz by the neck. Ba-bum. Rage's mouth foamed a frothy green saliva, and it hissed as he opened his mouth to speak. Ba-bum.  "I was "worthy" before I got here. Always have been." A bit of disgusting breath went into DaggerKlutz's face. "Give up now, and I won't cripple you, or do any of those other nasty things I mentioned earlier. How does that sound?" he asked, sarcastically. Rage's eyes were twitching, and he was completely focused. His reaction time was at an all time high from the rush, so that if DaggerKlutz tried anything, he'd be able to counter.

DaggerKlutz didn't show an ounce of fear or even flinch when Rage suddenly grabbed him by the neck and lifted him at least a foot up into the air. Rage began to speak, his voice seemed angry and rough. "I was "worthy' before I got here. Always have been." DaggerKlutz smirked at Rage's comment but he stayed silent to let Rage finish. "Give up now, and I won't cripple you, or do any of those other nasty things I mentioned earlier. How does that sound?" Rage had a sarcastic tone in his voice when he mentioned the last bit. But DaggerKlutz didn't pay much heed to Rage's sarcasm or threats. In a confident voice, DaggerKlutz replied, "You still don't get it, do you? I told you, a hero needs persistence and a strong moral code. You just displayed the persistence, you were able to put me in this situation but you still lack the moral code."
 
For a split second, DaggerKlutz thought that he felt Rage tighten his grip on his neck. "I know why you can here." DaggerKlutz announced after a moment of silence. "You want to prove that you are a changed man. But who will you prove wrong when you bring the injured body of an outstanding citizen to the police with no evidence that he had done anything wrong? How much of a hero will you be when you let your own personal rage control you? Does inflicting pain ease yours? You still need to choose. You can either drop me and realize that you shouldn't provoke evil but confront it or you can do all those mean little threats you said earlier and show the world that you are still the violent criminal you've always been." The grin on DaggerKlutz's face disappeared and was now left once again with a blank but anxious expression. It was now time for the true test.
  

DaggerKlutz shook his head is disappointment. Rage was not understanding what he was saying. He only saw things that were on the surface and he refused to see what was underneath it all. His close mindedness and lack of control proved that he wasn't quite ready to become a hero in DaggerKlutz's eyes. When Rage slightly tighten his grip on his neck and tendrils began to extend outwards, DaggerKlutz knew that it was time for him to finally respond. DaggerKlutz took a deep inhale and held his breath. Suddenly, a puff of pink gas sprayed out of his battlesuit's chest plate. The pink gas quickly disperse and DaggerKlutz finally let go of the breath that he was holding in. "That was an anesthetic."DaggerKlutz said as he gave Rage a sinister grin. "I just sent out thousands of particles that can make even the most powerful of superhumans faint. You see," DaggerKlutz explained, trying to stall of time. "-when those particles are breathed in they travel to the lungs which will insert them into the blood stream in replacement of oxygen. So over sixty five percent of your blood cells will be carrying these particles and not any oxygen. Your brain will not be receiving the proper amount of oxygen it needs causing you to faint. I bet you already feel drowsy and wobbly." DaggerKlutz let out a quick chuckle, expecting Rage to loose the grip on his neck and then falling onto the sandy beach, unconscious and easy to take care of.    

DaggerKlutz fell onto his butt when Rage loosened his grip. Rage was wobbling and the inky black suit on his began to change into his civilian disguise. Rage began to mutter, "Was so close... so close... I'll kill you... one day." Then Rage tilted towards his left and crashed down onto the sandy beach. DaggerKlutz got up onto his two armored feet and looked down at the unconscious Rage, disappointed on how he decided that he would rather be unheroic and continue to attack DaggerKlutz than realizing that he could be more by controlling his rage and directing it to become a true hero. 
 
A beep came from the battlesuit and DaggerKlutz said into the suit's communicator. "I'm going to need a helicopter to come over here to pick someone up and drop them at the nearby hospital." The communicator buzzed before the uncaring voice of his secretary replied, "On the way, sir." DaggerKlutz took a few step and picked up Rage to carry him on his shoulder, as a lumberjack would with a large log. He casually waltzed over to the island's helipad and placed Rage on the nearby beach chair. DaggerKlutz sighed before he said to the unconscious Rage, "One day, when you learn what a real hero is, we can truly become good enemies. Until then, you need to explore yourself and discover what you really want to become." He walked away, leaving Rage to sleep there and wait for the helicopter to pick him up and take him to the nearby hospital. In the meantime, DaggerKlutz would try to fix the damaged battlesuit with the disappointment of another unworthy hero.