User blog:Monkey Doctor 33/Does a Patriot Know Fear? Senator Armstrong vs Man-Thing!



Hey folks, it's MD 33 here, bringing you another battle for my fifth season. Season Five has kicked off fairly well with Kilowog vs Firelord, and I promised y'all to have Dante Alighieri of Dante's Inferno fighting Mother Talzin from Star Wars. Unfortunately, due to how differing their stats are and the fact that I can't figure out how those two warriors can beat each other, I've decided to pick another battle to do. And finally, here we are, having yet another unrelated battle but a rather interesting one! Here, we have Senator Armstrong, the nanomachine-infused politician bent on revolutionizing the United States to bring it into even greater heights! With his nanomachines, he has fought certain cyborgs using his superhuman body to a standstill. But, can he defeat an abominable swamp-man that has fought some of the Marvel Universe's strongest monsters? Presenting for the first time, Man-Thing, a former scientist turned into a muck-filled swamp creature, becoming the Guardian of the Nexus of Realities itself! Now, without further ado, let us get into the battle!

Senator Armstrong, the warmongering Senator of Colorado and presidential candidate, intending to re-establish America as a true country of freedom for everyone to wage their own wars!

VS

Man-Thing, Marvel's own swamp monster and Guardian of the Everglades' Nexus of Realities with the infamous burning touch reserved for those who knows fear!

In this battle between, uh, machine and nature...

Who is DEADLIEST?

Senator Armstrong


"You should try fighting for what you believe in sometime, Jack. Not for a company, or for a nation, or for anyone else."

- Senator Armstrong

Steven Armstrong is the main antagonist of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. A United States Senator for Colorado, Senator Steven Armstrong is one of the presidential candidates for the nation's elections in 2020. A former football player, Steven enlisted within the United States Navy despite his lack of true combat. Soon, he becomes a politician and embarks on a quest to re-orchestrate the war economy. Tying himself with the World Marshal Incorporated and recruiting four dangerous cyborgs, he begins his mission to reclaim the American Dream. However, he is later opposed by another cyborg, Raiden, fighting him on top of a Metal Gear unit. Although defeated, Armstrong's plan succeeded and the World Marshal Inc. still thrives.

Man-Thing
"Whate'er you fear is shadow mist! All worlds are dream and sleep. Become this truth, sweet fated child, and God is yours to keep."

- Man-Thing

Theodore Sallis, better known as the Man-Thing, is a character created by Marvel Comics. A former biochemist, Sallis was part of a team of scientists that intended to create the next version of Captain America's Super-Soldier Serum. However, the terrorist group, AIM, managed to find out of his work through an agent of theirs and Sallis' wife as well as one of the scientists in his team, Ellen Brandt. Ambushed by AIM, he injected himself with the only sample of serum he had. However, he crashed into a swamp soon. Transformed into a being of muck, ooze, and plants by both the serum and the swamp's mystical forces, Ted Sallis is now the Man-Thing, Guardian of the Nexus of Realities and an ally to heroes and their monster counterparts, as well.

Senator Armstrong
Superhuman Strength= The nanomachines within Steven's body enhances his body to superhuman levels. With such infusion comes his immense strength. I can safely confirm that he's a Class 100, scaling from his fight with the ridiculously-overpowered Raiden. Not truly overpowered but you get what I mean. Capable of fighting cyborgs like Raiden and Jetstream Sam, Armstrong's strength is definitely the most terrifying thing he has in store. Aside from that, he can also power up his strength by generating a fiery aura that allows him to create large explosions via ground pounds and charging at his targets.

Note: Assuming you know of Raiden's feats, carry on. Superhuman Durability= You see that blade of Sam's failing to penetrate his nanomachines? Yeah, that blade of his is the Muramasa Blade, a variant of the HF Blade, which can cut through molecular bonds. Molecular bonds. Those blades are basically Marvel's antarctic vibranium (anti-metal). Granted, it did cut him eventually, but he tanked a lot, and I mean a LOT of blows from it. The nanomachines that protect Armstrong's innards are strong, but they do have a weakness.
 * Throws away Raiden a great distance away.
 * By rapidly punching Raiden, he deals a great amount of damage on the cyborg.
 * Blows up Metal Gear EXCELSUS by punching it hard enough. He dented the missile-resistant hulls of the unit previously, but this one's a giant punch that gives you an idea of how powerful his striking is. And don't underestimate the EXCELSUS. That thing's weakness may not be nuclear, but that thing and its kind are created to survive nuclear wars.
 * Severely weakens Raiden's chest plate by stomping on it multiple times.
 * Heats up Raiden's chin/half-mouth plate by simply punching him a distance away.
 * Overpowers Raiden with one hand without even being enraged.
 * Punched away Jetstream Sam casually in the gut, prompting him to grunt in pain.
 * Throws a considerably big part of the EXCELSUS at Raiden with little effort.

The nanomachines can react to a single form of damage such as those of the cyborgs' blades. But the moment they switch up their attack method within an attosecond, those machines ain't gonna react fast enough to absorb that new attack. Such example was when Armstrong got briefly overpowered by Raiden's fists. The nanomachines fail to keep Armstrong in resisting damage when it's quick. What does that mean? Armstrong's core weakness is in the enemy's attack speed. The faster it goes, the weaker the nanomachines are in resisting it.

Superhuman Speed= The nanomachines also increases Armstrong's speed, but not to the point that he's as fast as the Flash. Still, he's very fast and can keep up with cyborgs that have a speed rating of supersonic. Combined with his strength, Armstrong is probably one of the most terrifying mortal, non-magic warriors this wiki can have.
 * Stood up almost unfazed against a barrage of punches from Raiden. Granted, he shook up in an erratic manner, but in the end the damage done to him was minimal despite the said weakening against fast attacks.
 * Took Jetstream Sam's Muramasa Blade right to the head, and absolutely no damage was done.
 * Rocket launchers like the FIM-92 and the LAG-2 (this one can stop an APC dead on its tracks) barely deal any damage to him.
 * Can still speak briefly even though Jack ripped out his heart.
 * Parried both the Muramasa and the HF Blades casually with no apparent damage.

Regeneration= Not really a regeneration feat, but you get the idea. In case Armstrong gets a limb or two dismembered, he can just reattach them. In case he gets injured, the nanomachines can speed up his healing but not to the point of Wolverine's regeneration. Admittedly, his regeneration feats are nearly non-existent, but it is stated that he can heal faster; it's just not fast. Sounds like a cool ability, right? Yeah, it is. This one basically endows the politician with the power of everyone's favourite mutant terrorist, X-Man, or whatever the heck he is now. Problem? This power only comes in handy when he powers up, so his magnetokinesis is limited. Also another problem is that this ability really won't work in-battle, considering that it'll be set in Man-Thing's Swamp (more on that later).
 * Kept up with both Jetstream Sam and Raiden. Yes, that's his only relevant feat that already demonstrates how fast he can be.
 * This is how fast he can punch.
 * -|Magnetokinesis=

Man-Thing
''Note: This section will discount his teleportation, since it'll be mostly useless against Armstrong anyway. It is still usable, though."

Superhuman Strength= Imbued with Captain America's Super-Soldier strength and the mystical forces the Nexus of Realities, Man-Thing possesses strength above most minor superhumans. Admittedly, he's not much of a Class 100, but he has the strength to prove that he's more than enough to take them on. Initially portrayed with strength only slightly higher than the Captain himself, Man-Thing gradually becomes one of those Marvel characters that has a sudden surge in strength like Luke Cage, the Thing, and Spider-Man. Now, he comfortably seats at Class 80 and can fight even the toughest of villains. Superhuman Durability= Like his strength, Man-Thing possesses durability on a superhuman level. Problem? While his durability is promisingly tough, he can't tank on every attacks hurled at him. If he's shot by bullets, muck and ooze will come out of him. If he's stuck in a fiery trap, his body will still boil even though he survives. Hell, he can't even take on the punch of Classic Thing who at the time of fighting him has Class 5 level of strength. So, how does he cope with all those extensive damage he suffer? It's simple: he feels no pain, and his body simply lets the blow get through without doing anything much to him. Yep, when the Thing punched him, it simply went through without even giving a seizure at Man-Thing. But nevertheless, his pure durability is still good, even though he can't take everything.
 * Ripped off Psycho-Man's arm while throwing him away. Psycho-Man is all but Class 2 in terms of strength, but it's impressive knowing of what Man-Thing does to lesser superhumans.
 * Crushed the head of a demon with ease. Yes, demons are also Class 2.
 * Overpowered Ka-Zar. This time, Ka-Zar's simply a peak human hero.
 * Held the Hulk down with the help of the Glob (a villain), suffocating and knocking him out. What happened to the Glob later on? He beat him within one shot by tearing him apart.
 * Tore a man in half and snapped the neck of two Hydra Agents, one within each hands.
 * Exchanged blows with the Hulk evenly.
 * Snatched the Cosmic Cube away from a being as strong as Captain America himself.
 * Uprooted a demonic tree and crushed it.
 * Hurled a tree to an electric demon and killed it.
 * Staggered D'Spayre with a simple punch. D'Spayre is a being much more powerful than Man-Thing himself and he's basically someone comparable to Dormammu (the Dr. Strange villain). Granted, he's not that strong but basically he's a higher-dimensional being.
 * Tore apart a steel space-ship.
 * Knocked back Spider-Man, knocked down the Hulk, and swiped Iron Man aside.
 * Concrete wall couldn't stop his smash.
 * Smashed through a boat from beneath.

Durability

 * Held off an entire barrage of gunfire before having a car crash straight to his chest. Results? Not even the bullets went through him. He basically stood still the entire time with no damage.
 * After being thrown an incredible distance away, he didn't splatter and he took the impact straight away with no signs of discomfort or pain. He went through these kinds of throws and falls multiple times with the same results.
 * A grenade exploded in front of him. No damage was done and only the attacker blew up.
 * A cannonball couldn't penetrate him.
 * Took on direct hits from the Hulk's punches.
 * Tanked a continuous blast of laser without penetrating his body. Only small amount of matter came out of his body and he ended up walking through it and destroying the laser gun.
 * Ghost Rider's Hellfire dealt no damage to him.
 * Bombs similar to those of the Green Goblin's blew up, Man-Thing blocked it and in the end nothing happened to the swamp monster.

Phasing
Superhuman Speed= No doubt, Man-Thing isn't all about speed. He is outright slow and he can't move even as fast as Captain America. However, he's never been too slow in combat and can be surprisingly fast against unsuspecting enemies. He is faster underwater, though.
 * The Thing's punch simply went through him. Afterwards, he doubted if he's even alive or not. Spoiler alert: he's not both.
 * Axes passed through him.
 * Gladiator's (no, not the Imperial Guardsman) buzzsaws slashed him horizontally, and what he got was only muck on his saws. Knowing this, he said that Man-Thing can't die. And to this day, that stands true.
 * A battering ram went through him. In the panel, it was said that he felt pain. But that's quite crap, if I say so. Sallis lost all his humanity when he turned into the Man-Thing, and that included his pain receptors. Still, the immediate result was him pulling the ram back and throwing it at the two foolish guys ramming at him.
 * Slid through prison bars.
 * Nets couldn't hold him because he simply phased through them.
 * The X-Man, Beast, accidentally got trapped in Sallis' body after trying to kick him away.

Land

 * Rushed up a group of spirits before they could even react.
 * Overwhelmed a group of soldiers without them even grasping of what the hell just happened. One soldier did see him in a distance and threw a grenade, but it passed through him and the Man-Thing simply burned the fearful man.
 * Surprised a group of hunters by rushing at them at breakneck speeds.
 * Outraced a group of HAMMER Agents riding Goblin Gliders. These gliders can keep up with Spider-Man himself, since their model is basically the same as Norman's own.
 * Caught a falling baby, and a falling man on different occasions.
 * Dodged a blast of fire from a demon.
 * Punched off a motorcycle that's circling him.
 * Caught hold of an airplane mid-flight.
 * Managed to uproot a tree fast enough that Doctor Strange couldn't react to him. He uprooted the tree and whacked the Sorcerer Supreme away before he could even fly far away from him.

Water
Regeneration= Man-Thing's regenerative ability is somewhat questionable. At times, he can regenerate naturally by itself. But at times, he can only regenerate by drawing upon nearby vegetative/swamp matter. For this battle, it will be the latter. Still, in both instances the Man-Thing can regenerate really fast but not on par on Wolverine. But what makes the regeneration so special is that depending on the matter, its speed can increase and he's basically unkillable through this. Chlorokinesis= While not as good as his DC counterpart, Man-Thing can use the power to manipulate plants for multiple purposes. From generating wings to pulling off a Mr. Fantastic, versatility is within this power of the Man-Thing's. If the (scared) target even touches one of these generated plants, he/she will still burn. Limited Telepathy= Man-Thing's telepathy doesn't work like those of Professor X's or Martian Manhunter's. He can't really affect the minds of other beings and corrupt or attack them like most telepaths depicted in fiction, but he uses his telepathy to sense what evil is within the person's mind. Taking advantage of this, Man-Thing can also mimic the person's current state and even induce fear within them! He is extremely sensitive towards emotion, and negative emotions can trigger him to secrete a type of acid so powerful it harms people with superhuman durability. He can also speak telepathically, but only if he wants to. Fear Touch= Whatever knows fear burns at the touch... of the Man-Thing! Sorry, but I think that's really necessary to add here. The most iconic ability Man-Thing has. Heck, this might even be one of the most iconic abilities Marvel has ever made. This ability is the most effective way for Man-Thing to take down unwanted subjects. Though "taking down" here mostly means killing them. Villains and criminals beware, for if you even have the slightest sense of fear within you, the Man-Thing will burn you. For most part, the Fear Touch actually ignores the durability of a person and outright burns them using what Marvel once actually called holy fire. The fire will inflict a great amount of pain, no matter what kind of durability you have even if you're the Hulk. Hell, his Fear Touch is so potent that reality-warpers like the Molecule Man was even affected!
 * Intercepted a lizard monster and killed it.
 * Rose up from quicksand.
 * Swam quickly and gracefully in swamp waters. Literally, this thing's an olympic swimmer.
 * Smashed through the bottom of a wooden boat, rising from the water in a surprising manner.
 * Rose from a muck after being obliterated by a bulldozer.
 * Regenerated quickly after Cyclops blasted him with his optic blast.
 * Recovered his face after it was burned off.
 * A shotgun to the face simply impaired his vision before regenerating.
 * Reformed after being sliced apart by a propeller.
 * Bullet holes are regularly regrown.
 * After being cut to pieces by a mystical blade, Man-Thing could still fight the attacker.
 * His body was obliterated by a Celestial (yes, one of those space gods) incinerating him, but he still could regenerate. However, this is no wound capable of being healed within seconds. He healed over a considerable amount of time, and this feat simply shows us of how great his survivability is.
 * Still stood after getting his head and arms blown off.
 * Destroyed a bunch of construction vehicles by wrapping them around giant vines.
 * Grabbed Angel out of the air.
 * Grew wings and flew fast enough to match the Silver Surfer's speed. Remember what I said about the Silver Surfer in the last post?
 * Hid himself within the ground and sprung up to trap a man.
 * Extended his arm.
 * Formed into a wall to block a horseman.
 * Detached his mass to clog up a chimney.
 * Using his mind, he managed to see through the disguises of multiple demons posing as heroes. This was done by sensing their emotions.
 * Sensed an infant's fear and when it cooled off.
 * Detected a good man's terror and saved him.
 * When Gladiator stopped being afraid of him, he stopped his onslaught. However, that doesn't mean he can't fight the initially-fearless Armstrong here. Before so, he terrified Gladiator and paralyzed him.
 * Felt the desperation of a group of people.
 * Could even feel pain and fear on a global scale.
 * Terrified the omnipotent Molecule Man.
 * Prompted the Thing to be scared of losing his name to Man-Thing himself.
 * Acting as some sort of mini-Penance Stare, Man-Thing relieved the most horrific experience a criminal has ever had. This terrified him and allowed him to burn the criminal down.
 * Understood that a friend's in danger.
 * Sensed Franklin Richards' power. Just as he sensed Molecule Man's, he could sense the reality-warping power of Mr. Fantastic's son.
 * Knowing of the Hulk's mental problems, the Man-Thing took advantage of his hidden inner fear and burned him using his touch. Thing is, the Hulk still lived to this day so you get the idea.
 * Burned straight through a man's heart.
 * Burned D'Spayre (remember him?).
 * A flame demon was incinerated by him when he felt fear. Yes, no matter what you are, no matter what you're made off, you will still burn.
 * Burned the Molecule Man so bad his power waned.
 * Incinerated a group of undead ninjas. They may not show fear, but remember, even the slightest fear will get you burned.
 * When he felt so much fear across the globe, his flames burned so hot that it incinerated New York City.
 * If Man-Thing himself somehow get scared, he'll burn himself. This won't happen, though.

X-Factors

 * Man-Thing snatches the edge of experience away from Steven. Armstrong is definitely an experienced man in his own rights. His fights with the cyborgs Jetstream Sam and Raiden are definitely tough and awesome, but he barely won both of them. In fact, he lost to Raiden and Sam technically won against him. Before becoming a cyborg, he's a member of the US Navy. Problem? He didn't get to see any action. Man-Thing, on the other hand, has faced both mystical threats within his own comic books and famous superheroes and supervillains the Marvel Universe has to offer. From the other Thing, the Hulk, Iron Man, to even omnipotents such as Owen Reece, the Molecule Man. Not to mention that he has worked with the Punisher (yes, him), the Legion of Monsters, the Howling Commandos, and the Thunderbolts.
 * Intelligence utterly goes to Steven Armstrong. If Sallis' mind still exists within the Man-Thing canonically, he'll easily take the edge for being a world-class scientist whose work is even hunted by AIM. However, we all know that's not true here. Man-Thing has your own basic consciousness kind of thingie. He knows what a child is, he knows how to flip the switch of a self-destruct button, and how to smack away irrelevant bitches like Iron Man. But simply put, Armstrong is a full-on smart guy. He's no scientist, but he retains his full intellect unlike Man-Thing's muck brain. Plus, he knows how to use his abilities to the fullest so yeah. Not saying that Man-Thing doesn't know how to use his powers. He just doesn't use all of 'em as often as Armstrong does with his NANOMACHINES, SON. Plus, Steven is one hell of a tactician, that is.
 * Once again, the senator takes the edge. Man-Thing isn't necessarily brutal nor merciful, as he simply knows what to do when a bad guy comes within his range. He has no mercy in burning scared people, but most of these burnt people are bad guys. One such example is during Dark Reign when he simply burned a group off HAMMER Henchmen working for Norman Osborn who has just seen him. Hell, Man-Thing doesn't even know they're bad people and he just straight-up burned them! That however, happened because he saw those guys chasing his buddies, the Moloids. Aside from that, Armstrong is outright bloodthirsty and will do anything to kill his opponents, no compromise. I mean, look at how he handled Raiden, for Heaven's sake!
 * The Nexus' Guardian gets yet another edge in endurance. It's tough to bring down the nanomachine body of the senator for both of our beloved Class 100 cyborgs, but Man-Thing has the greater survivability here. With the ability to regenerate his body indefinitely no matter the duration from the Nexus while also being able to recover broken parts by simply using vegetables, Man-Thing definitely needs more than a building-leveling punch to bring him down.
 * The final edge is taken by the senator. Easy win here, Armstrong is a trained member of the US Navy and has official soldier training embedded within his brain. Man-Thing, pre-death and post-death, has no training whatsoever and relies on his superhuman powers whatsoever. Battles with other superhumans like Hulk are something, but most of these guys don't know how to fight, either. Ka-Zar is an exception but he's quickly overwhelmed by his strength. Sallis also mostly takes advantage of his scary appearance and outright burns the villains that see him, ending the "battle" quickly.