User blog:Wassboss/Religion vs Science: Mevolent's Officers vs Armstrong's Lieutenants

It's the age old argument which has caused conflict and disagreement for the entire of humanity; the unending battle between Religion and Science; The Old vs the New. Both sides have their fair share of fanatics and lunatics but these two groups really take the cake. One group believes in the almighty power of vengeful gods and the other puts it's faith in extreme social Darwinism and all are willing to shed blood in order to affirm their twisted beliefs.

Mevolent's Officers: The fanatical worshippers of the faceless ones, who hoping to return their dark gods to this world and rule by their side.

vs

Desperado Enforcement: The Colorado based PMC, willing to do whatever it takes to keep war as a business.

Who is Deadliest

Mevolent's Officers
Mevolent "Have you ever seen a man come back to life before? Not many have. Over the years, stories have grown up around what you have seen here today. The truth gets misplaced the more the stories travel. They say I bathe in blood. Have you heard that? According to the stories I must submerge myself in mortal blood for two hours out of every twenty-four, or else my body starts to break apart due to the corruption I have inside of me. That's a lot of mortal blood to drain every single day but they don't take such things into consideration when concocting these stories do they? On a purely logistical level, if I had to drain all those mortals, I'd never have the time to do anything else would I. Other stories tell how I eat innocent newborns, how i'm ten feet tall, how I breathe fire and have great dragon wings. None of these things are wholly accurate. I don't have dragon wings, I don't breathe fire, I'm only eight feet tall and I've never eaten a new born that didn't have it coming. My name is Mevolent. What's yours?"
 * -|Leader=

- Mevolent to Valkyrie Cain Mevolent was an Elemental and was one of the very few to turn evil. He lead a faction during The War against the Sanctuary with the goal of bringing the Faceless Ones back to this reality. Before his rise to power he served under Arthur Dagan's grandfather and somehow came across The Unnamed who would later become his master. Mevolent was a dedicated follower of the Faceless Ones, and attempted to open a portal and allow them entry back to Earth.

Powers and Abilities
 * Mastery of Elemental Magic: Mevolent has completely mastered the use of elemental magic and can use each of the 4 elements with equal skill, making him one of, if not the most powerful sorcerer in the entire Skullduggery Pleasant universe. Some the elements and their uses are listed below;


 * Fire: The flashiest and most used of the four elements. Elemental sorcerers create fire by generating friction, usually the snapping of fingers, and use it for various purposes. These purposes range from creating fireballs, to creating barriers of fire, to expelling fire in a flamethrower type stream and fireballs can be focused into more concentrated flames which can be used to cut and carve.


 * Air: Air magic is the most versatile and, at times, the most powerful of the four elements. Air magic is the easiest to learn with most sorcerers learning this first. Uses of Air magic includes pushing and pulling towards or away from the sorcerer, squeezing and crushing objects, holding a person in place, creating a powerful wall of air to block an attacker, flight, creation of whirlwinds, reading disturbances in the air, depriving people of air, containing an explosion within a sphere of air and can be used to buff up a users punching power by encasing their fists with a layer of air.


 * Earth: Earth magic was at first, and for a very long time, thought to be last resort defensive magic. However it has since been shown to have some offensive prowess as well. The main use of earth magic is to turn the user into an unbreakable stone statue but the length of this transformation is unpredictable and could last any length of time, from a couple of years to several centuries. Other uses include collapsing the ground underneath and opponents feet and can be used as a means of travelling through walls.


 * Water: Water is the most rarely used out of the four elements . When the user is submerged in water, water manipulation can be used in a similar way to air manipulation. Uses of Water magic includes walking on water, enhancing swimming ability, firing a stream of water as a projectile, creating a wall of water, manipulating water vapour in the air to create small rainstorms and the manipulation of ice or snow.


 * Superhuman Strength, Speed and Durability: Owing to his large size, Mevolent is a very strong individual and displays many feats of superhuman strength such as lifting and throwing people, lifting large slabs of concrete and throwing them and even ripping someone's head off. He is also very durable and is able to survive and fight with broken bones, survive being smashed in the face with a horse and being thrown through walls. He is also shown to be very fast and can move at superhuman speeds from place to place.

Nefarin Serpine "Serpine is a collector. He collects magic. He has tortured, maimed and killed in order to learn other people's secrets. He has committed untold atrocities in order to uncover obscure rituals, searching for the one ritual that he, and religious fanatics like him have been seeking for generations."
 * Highly Skilled in hand to hand and bladed combat: Mevolent is a very skilled hand to hand fighter as showcased by his battle against Darquesse where he is able to fight on par with a self healing demi-god and almost come out on top. His fighting skill is backed up with his elemental mastery and he has also shown to be a skilled swordsman.
 * -|Second-in-command=

- Skulduggery Pleasant on Nefarian Serpine Nefarian Serpine was Mevolent's most trusted General during the great war. He masterminded the death of Skulduggery's wife and child, killing them in front of him, knowing that Skulduggery would get too angry to think properly. He was right - Skulduggery, in his rage, wanted to kill Serpine without using his magic and grabbed the nearest weapon, which was a poisoned dagger that Serpine had laid out for him. Serpine then captured, tortured and finally killed him. Once Skulduggery returned from the dead he was driven by his desire to get revenge on Serpine but before he could the truce was signed, preventing him from getting his revenge.

Powers and Abilities
 * Right Red Hand: Serpine's right red hand is completely skinless and causes a slow and agonising death to anybody who he points at and it is impossible to block or deflect. It does have a disadvantage though, Serpine cannot simply point at multiple opponents, he must keep his hand pointed at one opponent until the agonising death has taken place. It also does not work on a being that is already dead and presumably also cannot effect something which is not alive such as a machine.
 * Various Magical Abilities: As previously mentioned, Serpine is a collector of magic and has acquired several different magical abilities. He can gather purple vapour in his hand which can be used to blast at people or as a tendril to grab onto a far away object or person and pull them towards him. He is also able to create a wall of air which he can use to deflect projectiles such as bullets away from himself. When he waves his left hand he is able to make an object or person contract and expand and can snap bones with another wave.
 * Competent Close Quarters Combatant: Serpine has shown to be fairly good at close quarters combat but he is nowhere near as skilled as other mages and relies more on magic to defeat an opponent rather than his fighting skill. He is also implied to have some skill with knife combat as he carries around a dagger to use in combat.
 * Super Human Reflexes: Serpine has demonstrated superhuman reflexes on several occasions such as grabbing a dagger out of mid-air just as it is about to hit him and being able to sidestep bullets in a confined room.

Baron Vengeous "Try dying with some dignity you godless wretch."
 * -|Honourable Swordsman=

- Baron Vengeous to Billy-Ray Sanguine During the War, Vengeous was one of Mevolent's Three Generals. He was the leader of the fanatical Diablerie, a cult of people dedicated to bringing the Faceless Ones back through any means necessary. Vengeous was in search of Lord Vile's armour and blood from a descendant of an ancient one, so that he could revive the Grotesquery, an abomination of a creature, formed by the body parts of many other beasts. The Grotesquery, due to having the torso of a Faceless One, was purported to be able to herald the return of the remaining Faceless Ones. Sometime after 1861, Vengeous had a legendary battle with Skulduggery Pleasant, who threw a stick of dynamite at him.

Powers and Abilities Lord Vile "Vile was different. He would have used his power to... to change the world..."
 * Rupture Ability: Vengeous's only known power is the ability to make objects and people rupture by looking at them with his eyes glowing yellow. He needs to be concentrated to do this however and if he is distracted then he is unable to use this ability.
 * Skilled hand to hand combatant and swordsman : Vengeous has been shown to be a very skilled melee fighter and is able to fight off multiple opponents at once and has gone toe to toe with other powerful mages. He has also been shown defeating a vampire in it's night form which is a considerably impressive feat considering that most other characters struggle to defeat vampires in their weaker daytime form. He is also a skilled swordsman and his main weapon is a cutlass which is sharp enough to easily slice through skin and bone.
 * Peak Physical Condition: Despite appearing to be his his mid fifties, Baron Vengeous is an incredibly fit human being as has shown above average strength and speed, being able to dodge a fireball from close proximity. He is also very durable as he survived having a stick of dynamite being thrown at him and exploding in his face.
 * -|Freak=

- China Sorrows on Lord Vile Lord Vile was one of Mevolent's Three Generals during the war. He initially joined a Necromancer temple run by Auron Tenebrae where his rapid rise and success in training lead to them proclaiming him their Death Bringer, a powerful Necromancer who would save the world, but before he could learn about the Passage he joined Mevolent. His reason for doing so was not because he believed in the Faceless Ones but because he wanted to cause as much death and destruction as possible and Mevolent gave him the best opportunity of doing so.

Powers and Abilities
 * Necromancy Powers: Lord Vile's chosen magical discipline is Necromancy, which is the power to harness the energy of the dead. Lord Vile is one of the most powerful users of this particular discipline and can use it in a variety of ways. He can make shadows into solid projectiles which can be used as blades, can be fired as jagged shards from a distance and can be used as tendrils to grab onto an opponent. Vile can also shadow-walk which is form of teleportation where the user uses the shadows to travel through the ground. Shadows can also be used to fly, supporting the mage as the move through the air. He can also create a bubble of death, in which all life force within the aptly named death bubble are sucked towards the user as it contracts, making them stronger. Necromancy also becomes more powerful when death is nearby as it allows the user to absorb the energy and buff up their magical attacks.


 * Lord Vile's Armour: Lord Vile stores his necromancy power in his armour which is described as full set of medieval armour. Unlike most Necromancy objects it is made purely of shadow as opposed to being an object and has no solid form, allowing it to shape to fit the user and gives Vile great flexibility. If removed then Vile would be unable to call upon his Necromancy powers but this is nearly impossible to do and requires a great deal of physical strength. It also functions as a normal suit of armour, albeit more powerful, and can protect Lord Vile from a variety of physical and magical attacks.


 * Superhuman Durability: Owing to his Armour, Lord Vile is incredibly durable and has survived many injuries that would have killed other people. This includes being thrown into walls, blasted with magic from multiple different mages and even being slammed into the ground from a great height and managing to come away mostly unscathed.

China Sorrows "Remember when I told you that there's nothing more dangerous than a Zealot? Well we were dangerous even by Zealot standards."
 * Skilled Combatant: Lord Vile is a very powerful mage and he has been known to take on entire battlefields of soldiers and come out on top. He is by far the most powerful of Mevolent's Three Generals and has been able to defeat opponents who have been able to beat Serpine and Vengeous with relative ease as well as take on multiple powerful mages at once and hold his own against a self healing, demi-god.
 * -|Femme Fatale=

- China Sorrows China Sorrows was born around 400 years ago. It is known that China used to worship the Faceless Ones and was told stories about them by her grandmother, she even founded the Diablerie. She lead Skulduggery and his family into a trap where she took on Skulduggery's wife one on one and defeated her. At an unknown time she left the Diablerie and became "neutral", Baron Vengeous took over the organization.

Powers and Abilities
 * Mastery of Symbol Magic: China is an expert in the use of magical symbols and has several invisible sigils at various points on her body which can be used to perform a variety of magical spells. Some of the uses of these symbols include, summoning daggers of red energy, shooting a blue energy beam, enhancing her strength, making her move at impossibly fast speeds and enabling a her to drop from a great height and land unharmed.

More specific sigils include; One on her wrist which, when pressed against an opponent shocks them with magic and will kill them if contact is made long enough.

One which runs down her sternum which when traced with her finger, send out a powerful stream of heat which will instantly incinerate anybody whom China makes contact with. However the extreme heat will also incinerate China after a few minutes and it would only be used as a last resort.

A symbol along her jawline which when pressed will initiate a healing process as well as forcing out anything which has become stuck under her skin such as a bullet or piece of metal. China is weaker than normal after healing and her combat ability deteriorates.


 * Infatuation Ability: China has the ability to make any person, male or female, fall in love with her whenever they meet her. This can be used to cloud their judgement and manipulate them with frightening ease, she can basically order most mortal people to just do what she wants. This effect wears off after prolonged exposure however and China herself can call off the spell.


 * Skilled hand to hand combatant: As with each of her team-mates, China is a very skilled hand to hand combatant and can take on and beat other skilled mages as well as taking on multiple fighters at once. She has been shown able to fight and shackle a mage whose powers had been boosted by 100%, although she was badly injured and can hold her own against Baron Vengeous.

Desperado Enforcement LLC.
Steven Armstrong "Alright...the truth, then. You're right about one thing -- I do need Capital, And Votes! Wanna know why?! I have a dream!That one day, every person in this nation will control their own destiny! A land of the truly free dammit! A nation of action not words -- ruled by strength not committee! Where the law changes to suit the individual, not the other way around! Where power and justice are in back where they belong, in the hands of the people! Where every man is free -- to think --to act -- For himself! Fuck all these limp-dick lawyers, and these chicken shit bureaucrats! Fuck this 24/7 internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit! Fuck American Pride -- fuck the media -- Fuck - all of it! America is diseased -- rotten to the core...there's no saving it... We need to pull it out by the roots! Wipe the slate clean -- burn it down! And from the ashes a new America will be born! Evolved but unchained! The weak will be purged -- and the strongest will thrive -- free to live as they see fit! They'll make America great again!"
 * -|Leader=

- Steven Armstrong to Raiden

Steven Armstrong was a United States Senator representing the U.S. state of Colorado, as well as a candidate for the 2020 United States Presidential Election. He was also the benefactor for World Marshal Inc., as well as its de facto CEO.Armstrong was born and raised in Texas. Prior to pursuing politics, Armstrong played college football for the University of Texas, but joined the United States Navy due to a desire to serve his country, which also sacrificed his professional football career. However, although a member of the Navy, he never saw actual combat during his time in the service.

Powers and Abilities
 * Nanomachine Infused Body: Armstrong's entire body is composed of nanomachines. These nanomachines would harden different parts of his skin in response to physical trauma, with the side-effect of turning the affected areas black. Armstrong powers up his nanomachine technology by drawing in metal dust from any nearby metal object. These nanomachines give him several powers including;


 * Superhuman Strength: Armstrong was already a physically strong fighter before his nanotech infusion but the technology has increased it to superhuman levels. He has been shown to easily overpower other powerful fighters, can pick up and throw debris from a giant mecha and break Raiden's HF blade, all with his bare hands.


 * Superhuman Durability: As previously mentioned Armstrong's skin hardens in response to physical trauma which makes him incredibly durable. Blunt Trauma has no effect on him, sword strikes are mostly useless and even rocket launchers do very little to damage him. His nanomachines also give him a high healing ability to complement his durability and he has been shown to reattach his arm after it was sliced off in a fight.


 * Pyromancy: Armstrong is able to generate fire which can be used to enhance his physical attacks and create powerful explosions of fire by punching the ground.


 * Form a Blade: When Armstrong had his arm chopped off he was able to form a blade of nanomachines from where his arm should have been which he can then use as a weapon.

There are ,however, a couple of drawbacks to this technology. Firstly, the powering up process requires a great amount of metal and Armstrong is unable to attack or defend himself during this process. His nanomachines are also incapable of reacting to a sudden change in attack style e.g switching from blunt trauma to slashing and rapid attacks can also bypass the natural hardening suggesting that Armstrong has to be aware of the type attack being used in order for it to be most effective. His Nanomachines also have a limited battery life and if a battle goes on for too long then they will power down, leaving Armstrong more vulnerable.


 * Skilled Hand to Hand Combatant: Armstrong is shown to be a skilled hand to hand combatant and has been shown to easily beat skilled swordsmen with his bare hands. His fighting style is based heavily off wrestling moves and football moves as opposed to intricate or precise blows.

Sundowner "All we're saying is......give war a chance."
 * -|Second-in-command=

- Sundowner Sundowner was born in Alabama to a poor family. Although he had decent grades throughout school and was described as being a solid student, he never had the money to go to college, so he served in the military instead and participated in the Invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and Afghanistan. By 2008, he dropped out of official military service and served as a mercenary for various PMCs up to and during the advent of SOP.He was forced out of the battlefield for a few years after being hit with an IED, although he regained participation shortly after gaining a cyborg body. At some point he became the De Facto leader of Desperado Enforcement LLC.

Powers and Abilities Jetstream Sam "I see... you deny your weapon its purpose! It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies, but you hold it back!"
 * Cyborg Body: Owing to an explosion which destroyed most of his body, Sundowner underwent an operation to become a cyborg. This new cyborg body has increased his strength, agility, speed, reactions and durability significantly. Sundowner is strong enough to pick up a full grown man with almost no effort and lift and swing a lamp post as a weapon and durable enough to withstand several blows from a HF Blade.
 * Explosive Shields: Sundowner also has six shield-like platforms in the sockets on his back. These shields are explosive reactive armour that could repel attacks, doing damage to the person inflicting the blow. He can also use it as an offensive weapon, making use of his enhanced speed to charge at an enemy with his shields up.
 * Bloodlust: Sundowner's primary weapon is a pair of HF machete blades called Bloodlust. The two blades are the exact same length and can either be used as two separate swords or can be put together to create a shears-like contraption which functions as a giant pair of gardening shears.
 * Skilled Swordsman:Sundowner is a skilled swordsman as showcased in his fight with Raiden where he is able to hold his own against another skilled swordsman. His enhanced reflexes and reactions also help him in combat. allowing him to dodge and block attacks others would be unable to.
 * -|Honourable Swordsman=

- Sam to Raiden Samuel Rodrigues was descended from a long line of swordsmen, dating back to 16th century Japan. Sam's father ran a Brazilian Kenjutsu Dojo and was killed by one of his pupils, although not before Sam personally inherited his Murasama blade from his father. He then left Brazil, presumably to train, and eventually returned to kill the pupil in question before leaving Brazil permanently. Afterwards, he travelled the world as a mercenary and was renowned for his incredible swordsmanship. At some he went after Steven Armstrong for his role with World Marshall but was defeated by him in a battle and decided to join his cause.

Powers and Abilities
 * Exoskeleton Suit: Unlike the other members of Desperado Sam's body is almost entirely organic, the only part of him that is not original is his right arm, which was badly damaged by Armstrong. To compensate he instead wears an Exoskeleton Suit which enhances his speed, strength, durability and agility to superhuman levels, bringing him to a similar level as the other cyborgs.
 * HF Muramasa Blade: Sam's weapon is a Muramasa blade passed down to him by his father, a legacy of his samurai ancestors. The conversion to high-frequency has made it extremely powerful, more so than other newer blades and has been shown to easily cut through skin and bone and can even slice through strong metals and concrete pillars. The Muramasa's sheath contained a rifle mechanism with a magazine loaded and a trigger located below the sword's hilt. By triggering this mechanism Sam could launch his sword from the sheath at lightning fast speeds and the added momentum makes the blade even more effective at slicing through an enemy.
 * Master Swordsman: Sam is an incredibly skilled swordsman, probably one of the best in the whole metal gear universe. He is able to easily overpower and beat already highly skilled swordsman and has beaten both Raiden and Armstrong using only his blade. His greatest feat as a swordsman was defeating a hit squad comprised of 10 mobsters with automatic weaponry using only his sword, the feat being made even more impressive by the fact that it was done before cyborg technology was available.
 * Skilled Hand to Hand Combatant: As well as being a great swordsman Sam is also a highly skilled unarmed combatant as well. He is able to take on skilled combatants with only his bare hands and has even been able to hold his own against armed fighters using only his hands as showcased during his duel with Raiden.
 * Manipulation of Emotions: Sam has shown a good ability to read people's skills and personalities easily and use this to his own advantage. He often taunts his opponents to sway their focus and anger them, to make them more predictable and more impulsive.

Monsoon "Wind blows, rain falls. The strong prey upon the weak. Don't be ashamed. It's only nature, running its course"
 * -|Freak=

- Monsoon to Raiden Details on Monsoon's past are unknown but it is known that at some point he joined a Cambodian organized crime syndicate and his crime record was extensive enough to far outrank any ordinary gang member. He eventually got cyberneticized with a magnetics-based body after being caught in a gang shoot-out and mortally wounded. It was at this point that he decided to work with the Delaware-based PMC Desperado, feeling it was much safer to work at a PMC instead of in a crime syndicate.

Powers and Abilities Mistral "I lost my whole family, everything... But I butchered those fuckers. My family's killers. That's when I realized... I am a killer too. And a good one at that."
 * Electromagnetic Generator: Monsoon's body was a unique cyborg chassis consisting of a series of segments held together by powerful electromagnetic forces which could separate considerable distances while still remaining part of the whole. This allows him to dodge sword slices, separating his body so that the blade would simply pass through as well as enabling him to separate his body to increase the reach of his attacks or attack from multiple angles. This magnetic field also allowed him to pick up huge metal objects and throw them at an opponent. He could also stick to metal surfaces and walk up them and even walk upside down. The generator also greatly his agility and he has showcased many complex gymnastic techniques and jump great heights. The generator also gives him the increased speed, strength and speed of other cyborgs. The generator does have a weakness to EMP blasts which will cut Monsoon off from his electromagnetic powers for a short while. Monsoon's head is also vulnerable to attack as he cannot separate it to avoid a strike.
 * Skilled Sai User: Monsoon's weapon of choice is a pair of sais called Dystopia. Monsoon is a very skilled user of these sais and is able to hold his own against skilled fighters with them. The sais have the special ability of being able to fire a burst of pink energy which stuns an opponent momentarily, allowing Monsoon to close the distance and attack. He can also pull himself towards an opponent with the same burst of energy.
 * Red Phosphorous Grenades: Monsoon makes extensive use of Red Phosphorous Grenades in his fight against Raiden. These have the effect of disorienting an opponent and shrouding their vision with smoke, making it hard for them to detect Monsoon, allowing him to attack from multiple directions.
 * -|Femme Fatale=

- Mistral Born to French and Algerian parents in the country of Algeria, she was orphaned at a very early age during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s. She served in the French Foreign Legion for a while and later participated in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a kill count in the dozens. Despite killing being her calling and She even grew envious of her prey because they had causes to fight for. Eventually, she met a Steven Armstrong who changed all that and allowed her to fight for an ideal.

Powers and Abilities
 * Cyborg Body: It is unknown why Mistral decided to get a cyborg body but is likely to due to serious injury in the past. Her cyborg body gives her enhanced speed, agility, strength, reactions and durability, far exceeding that of a normal human. She also has optical implants which gives her superhuman eyesight, allowing her to see a person standing hundreds of feet away.
 * Skilled Spear User: Mistral's weapon of choice is a spear called L'Etranger. The spear is double sided and can also be used as a whip or a grappling hook, to grab onto an slam an opponent or reach an opponent from a distance. Mistral is shown to be a very skilled spear fighter able to fight on par with Raiden during their fight.
 * Dwarf Gecko's: Mistral makes heavy use of Dwarf Gecko's in her fight with Raiden, using them to further enhance her cyborg body. She has sockets on the side of her body which she can plug up to 14 Dwarf Gecko arms, 7 on either side of her body, giving her more options to attack and more flexibility with her spear. Mistral also use the main body of the Gecko as an projectile attack, launching it at a foe at such a velocity that the body sets alight, making the attack even more damaging.

X Factors
Training: MO=83/DE=83 

Both of these teams contain highly trained members. All of Mevolent's team have been trained in combat skills and their chosen magical disciplines, with Serpine in particular having been taught many different types of magical combat skills. Armstrong, Sundowner and Mistral have served in various military organisations including the US Navy, US Army and French Foreign Legion respectively and Sam, while not militarily trained, was trained by his father in the art of sword fighting and Kenjutsu. Monsoon is the only one who doesn't seem to have any specific training but it is assumed he had some training in sai based combat due to his skill level. Mevolent's team probably have more training but Desperado's training is more formal and rigorous so I'm going to call it even.

Physicality: MO=85/DE=92

Both sets of warriors are physically superior to an average person due to intense training and various enhancements. However what gives Desperado the edge here is that they are all enhanced by some sort of cybernetic technology which improves their physical capabilities far beyond what a normal human could ever achieve. Even Sam, whose mostly organic, is still enhanced by his exoskeleton suit. Mevolent's team are also above average but even with the anti-ageing effect of magic they are still human and even at peak physical fitness are simply not as good as the technologically enhanced bodies of Desperado.

Experience: MO=95/DE=87 

Once again both teams have a varied set of experience spanning many years. However Mevolent's Officers take the edge here for a couple of reason. Firstly their individual experience spans centuries of constant combat whereas each member of Desperado has served for not much more than 5 years a piece even if most of it has been spent in combat or in training. Secondly their experience is much more varied and they have all faced off against many different types of warriors with even more types of magical combat. A lot of the experience that Desperado brings is of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan or against criminals neither of which really compare to fighting mages. Finally Mevolent's team also bring a more varied set of powers which in turn gives more experience of different types of combat. Desperado is made up of a few very similar warriors and so while their experience is more compatible it lacks the sheer variety brought by Mevolent and his underlings.

Brutality: MO=90/DE=88

As the villains of their respective stories it's no surprise to find out that neither of these two teams are willing to go above and beyond when it comes to cruel and unusual punishment. Mevolent, China and Vengeous have all shown a willingness to brutally take down an opponent and do things such as rip of someone's head or blow them up. Vile and Serpine are even worse, taking pleasure from how violent and depraved they can be, hell Serpine's signature power sacrifices efficiency for straight up agony. Desperado are not much better and all are more than willing to slice of limbs, kill civilians and even straight up abuse orphaned children just to achieve their goals. However what gives Mevolent the edge is that he and his team-mates are more likely to be brutal and cruel in combat whereas a lot of Desperado's depravity comes from what they do outside of straight up combat and only Sundowner could be described as truly bloodthirsty, the others just show an above average level of enthusiasm for violence.

Teamwork: MO=85/DO=88

For the most part these teams are comprised of people who are all linked by a similar ideology, held together by a leader whose power is pretty much unprecedented and thus their loyalty and co-operation is good. However there are still problems to be found in both teams. For Mevolent's team China and Vengeous are fanatically loyal to the cause and the leader but Serpine and Vile are not quite on the same page. Serpine is a firm believer in the cause but his manipulative nature and thirst for power make him very untrustworthy and there it always the feeling that he could turn on his team if things are going wrong. Vile doesn't care about the cause or the leader, he just wants to spread as much mayhem as possible and Mevolent's superior power is pretty much the sole reason he doesn't just turn around and kill everyone. Add in the animosity between some members because of their arrogance and it could lead to problems. Desperado's problems are less prominent but there are still some loose ends. Sam is similar to Vile, he doesn't care much about the cause and he is more likely disobey orders but for the most part he is still a loyal member. Monsoon, Sundowner and Mistral are devoted to the cause but the problem for Desperado is that their philosophy is based on an extreme form of Darwinism and so a show of weakness from Armstrong could turn them against him or at the least make they question his leadership. In the grand scheme of things neither of these team members are likely to turn on each other mid battle, nor are they likely to disobey orders but the possibility is still there.

Voting System/Notes
In order to counted as full votes must be at least 5 lines long or have been done in an edges format.

Anything less than 5 lines but which is competently argued and thought out will be counted as a half vote. I will inform anybody if their vote is considered a half vote and allow them to amend it to bring it up to a full point.

Irrelevant votes will not be counted at all.

This battle will take place before the events of Metal Gear Rising: Revengance for Desperado and at some point during The War for Mevolent's Officers.

The battle will be in and around the Marshall Inc. Headquarters in Colorado.

While this battle will mostly consist of one on one match-ups voters are advised to consider the group as a whole when casting their final vote.