Vilgax ten against two

green ring. Below stretched out ancient, dusty dunes, and pyramids spearing up through them.

"Yep," Hal said. "The man of the hour is approaching. And he's only got one Praetor with him."

Tsunade the Resurrection took the binoculars out of his hand for a closer look. "Thank god it's not the other jerk. The blonde I can actually deal with."

So, that was Vilgax. And the one with the sword. The Guardian couldn't really see them down there in the burning sands and he never had much imagination to visualize them. He could ask for the binoculars and see for himself, but he didn't see a point in the conversation to interject, so he did not. He didn't really talk to people.

"The son of a bitch looks in pretty bad shape, too," she said. "This is our best chance to kill him. Our only chance, before he heals. You all know the plan. Crush, you'll hold Vilgax in place. We'll only have a few seconds, but that's all the time we'll need."

The Crush was a human with red hair and a rough coating over his skin. His eyes were sunken and he had a big heavy jug slung over his back.

"I told you not to underestimate me. I'll bury him." Little sand grains danced on his fingertips, lazy practice for an incoming battle. "He'll see the face of my own Hell."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Chain, you're in charge of restraining Altria. Don't give her a chance to swing her sword."

Chain nodded. They were a gently swaying being of ultimate serene calm, and Tsunade was much less blunt with them. "I understand my order."

"Good to hear. Bite, you're the most important part of the mission. Once Vilgax is caught, you're going to swoop in and kill him in one hit. Make sure you get every part of him. Don't leave one speck or drop of blood or he might come back. Got all that?"

"Kuu is ready!" said the Bite.

Hal snapped his fingers. "Alright, let's not waste time running through everything. First base."

"That's me," said the Cataclysm.

"Second base."

"I won't fail," said the Reaper.

"Third base."

The Magnificent tightened their bow tie.

"Catcher."

He took a moment to respond, but at last the Fury said "I'll fight."

"Center field."

That was him. He wasn't familiar with the code names. He wasn't much the order-following type, either. Hal and Tsunade were very, very lucky that their plan for him was something he independently wanted to do. Or maybe he was just too obvious of a piece to play. All you had to do was look at him and you'd know what he was good for. Straightforward. All of life's necessities were simple and clear to the eye.

"Yeah," the Guardian said.

"Good. I'm left field, the lady is right field. It's ten against two. I'm not gonna tell you it'll be easy, but we absolutely can win. He's not invincible. He's not a god or a devil. He's an angry alien bug, and no matter how big or how tough he is, we can swat him. Let's go."

[...]

Vilgax's ghostly form appeared from the ether. He transformed back into his old self and he echoed when he hit the empty floor. Echoing. Empty. All his opponents dead or unable to continue fighting. There was nothing left but to return to his Praetor and put this mess behind him.

- Round 2