Polar opposites. They exist all around us. Light and dark. Red and blue. Good and evil. Demons and angels, and more.
Like Dr. Fate, lord of order and go- to magic man of DC, and Jackie Estacado, resident bad ass utilizing the power of The Darkness.
I am DANCESNAPPLE, and I will evaluate the weapons, armor, and skills of these combatants to show who would win. . . a death battle.
The LAW!
As old as time itself, the ancient spirit named Nabu was bound to a single object, the helmet of Fate. Once put on, Nabu asserts his will over his host to become Dr. Fate. Being a Lord of Order, he is incredibly powerful and potent in all means of magic.
However, his power is heavily dependent upon the magical abilities of his host. While the abilities can change to entirely different levels due to this, Fate can be a horrific foe when given even the most inept magic beings as a host.
For example, when possessing Wally West, he was more than capable of fighting off one of the most powerful Lords of Chaos, using his superior skills and experience to gain the upper hand. At his most powerful, he can casually shield off the entire planet and block attacks of planet busting power.
He uses astral projection to exit his body for multiple purposes, perceive and bend the stretches of time, travel through dimensions, fire magic blasts, create magical constructs, possesses high resistance to injury and effects from other magics. He can become invisible and cast many illusions. He can control minds, has some forms of necromancy, regeneration and healing, telepathy, teleportation, and telekinesis to increase strength speed and take flight.
He also possesses the Amulet of Anubis, which allows all manner of perception. He can see the very fabric the makes the universe, true perception of all things, and an increased ability to see the energies around him. He is near impossibly to take by surprise.
Yes, his powers exceed above and beyond all magic users, but there ARE a few negatives to him.
Firstly, Fate is extremely volatile towards anything he sees as wrong, leading him towards rash decisions in attempts to quickly take away all forms of chaos.
He is very distrusting, which also makes him rarely work in junction with his host, seeing as how his host can simply choose to never put the helmet on, thus causing Fate to disappear from the world. He will even at times forcefully stay in control of a body unless it is promised that he will still be able to help. For the purposes of this fight, we will use his most powerful form. Since the host has no input into his general fighting style, nor does it affect his skills, we won't cover any character back story here.
As you can see, he can be quite stubborn and hard headed, making him rarely utilize a wide spread of tactics, although he is adept at analyzing his opponents. Despite these slight flaws, he still manages to put in his stately amount of bad ass. Whether it be for the JSA or JLA, Fate will always come into play, such is its nature.
"Fate has intervened!"
The Crime Lord!
From an early age, Jackie was raised into the Franchetti family mafia. He grew into a master hitman, never being aware of his role as a up and coming host of a paranormal entity called The Darkness. He eventually had an altercation with DC's Batman, an encounter which led him to leave the mob life.
However, this decision ended with the sacrifice of his girlfriend and most precious person, Jenny Romano. Having tried to save her, The Darkness on purposely held him back from saving her, seeing her as a weakness to him.
However, you don't piss of Jackie, seeing as his immediate response was capturing Frankie Franchetti and burning both he and himself to death. The Darkness took Jackie to Hell, fully awakening his darkness power before bringing him back to life. Jackie's next move? Kill Paulie Franchetti and take control of the whole mafia.
From there, he's taken further mastery over his darkness ability, fought off many organizations bent on killing him, and has since fought both demons and angels.
Talk about miserable. God and the angels want him dead. The military and several organizations want him dead, some of which using various artifacts and powerful beings against him. Even hell itself and the Darkness tries to bend him to their will.
However, none of them succeeded. He took a page from the book of Kratos, being sent to hell by the Darkness only to come back and forcefully subjecting the Darkness to his will, gaining full ultimate power.
He wiped out any and all opposition to him from governments, resulting in them giving up any further attempts to piss him off.
He even fought his way through angels and killed the Sovereign, the being of God for his world.
Jackie's story is one of a man who's forced into a very specific life from every source possible. Every attempt to leave the life behind results in the powers against him gaining a chance to strike at him, forcing him to wage nonstop conflict against them until he is the last thing standing.
Jackie possesses a large amount of abilities from both the Darkness and his life as a hitman.
When using darkness powers, he gains massive boosts to strength, agility, durability, and speed. He can fling vehicles and buildings away and outrun any vehicle or aircraft. He has perfect night vision, several variations of healing factors for both himself and others, grow raven like wings for flight and superspeed, and can survive high atmospheric conditions casually.
He possesses all manner of skills for fighting, being an perfect marksmen and capable martial artist. His favorite weapons are the Darkness Guns. One gun fires bolts of darkness like a SMG, while another fires sonic boom style shots that can destroy entire areas and kill most moderate threats in one shot.
If for any reason he finds himself needing a decoy, target, or just wants to toy with his enemy, Jackie can summon creatures of darkness called Darklings. They possess high levels of speed, strength, durability, and other abilities like shade shifting, night vision, and more. Some Darklings can even have their own weapons and equipment. Some will be suicide bombers. Some may have chain guns. They can have any number of tools to use while they mock and make jokes about the humans they kill.
Jackie can project his darkness and give it form, able to make blades, claws, spiked tendrils, and any manner of construct. He even created a full mansion compound with his darkness, allowing him full control of the construct. What happens when a group of soldiers tries to break in. hehe. Nightmares for children.
His favorite constructs are the twin serpents that appear from his back to attack his enemies, maneuver through areas, and eat the hearts of his enemies to gain more power. Another favorite? BLACK HOLES! He can casually make mini black holes to suck up and crush his enemies.
Should all else fail, Jackie has one more move up his arsenal, the Darkness Armor. This encases his entire body in darkness powerful, constructing an armor that increases any and all abilities to impossible levels. For an example, this form let his physical strength shoot high enough to draw blood from Superman. That increase applies to all his powers.
However, Jackie does come with a variety of weaknesses. The powers of the Darkness cannot be utilized in the light for long periods of time. When open light is present, the darkness power dwindles at an almost instant rate. Not only does this drawback affect the conditions needed to Jackie to fight to his fullest, he himself also has an easily manipulated mind. He threatened to kill Batman over telling him his girlfriend's true feelings about his job. He is easily put into an unstable rage, although even in such occasions he can remain relatively tactful. When calm, he is extremely smart, and uses any and all ways to kill you.
Truly, Jackie is possibly the most powerful dark natured being to ever exist.
With that said, let this war between hosts of order and chaos begin. . . after this announcement.
To all those who have interest in the up and coming heights DC wishes to make in the movie industry, please make your attempts to support their projects. The anticipated Man of Steel sequel Superman/Batman will be a must see, along with other projects like: The up and coming Flash TV show to be made by the same studio as Arrow, Arrow of course, the hopefully coming soon Justice League Movie, and even the cartoons of today like Young Justice.
Now that that's done, IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!
. . .
Again? I ask myself this question every day. The entire street runs red with blood as another squad of troops land to surround Jackie. Upon firing, he shields himself using tendrils before lashing out at his enemies. They penetrate and rip them apart as his serpents devour the hearts.
"NO! PLEASE!" A man yells as two tentacles push in his mouth and rip his jaw off his body. The screaming is stopped by a serpent pushing through the throat and into the chest, pulling out the man's heart.
As his serpent eats, he's blasted at the side, crashing into a building. Rolling to his feet, he looks up to see the perpetrator. "Looks like today is when your fate ends."
Jackie chuckles. "Does it matter when I fought through self defense?"
Fate charges his power. "Not when you rip a begging man apart, monster."
"Didn't think so."
FIGHT!
Jackie lashes out with his darkness appendages, only for them to be instantly vaporized by Fates aura before Fate blasts Jackie into an apartment complex. "That all you have, demon?"
He looks up to find all the windows to the complex occupied with Darklings. . . each wielding miniguns. They open fire as he simply shields himself before sending a volley of magic projectiles into each one, killing them.
"Pathetic-" A serpent head wraps around Fate's leg from an open sewage entrance. It bites his calf as it pulls him away, whipping him into the ground. He rolls to dodge a rapid onslaught of shots, putting up a shield.
Jackie shows himself on top of the complex aiming his second darkness gun. "One Shot!" He fires the over powered shot as it shatters the shield where Fate was, only to find an empty space. He feels a hand on him before golden energy surrounds him.
He appears in the sky, Fate having a hold of him and pile driving him into the street. Fate stands above the crater. "All too easy- huh?" Jackie gets up, looking over his torn up trench coat.
"That was expensive, asshole." He cracks his neck and stretches as the serpents and darkness tendrils appear around him again. He aims his guns and unleashes a barrage of weak and powerful shots. The shots pass through Fate, however. It takes Jackie all but a few seconds before having his darkness spikes block a blast from above. "Illusions? My vision is hard to fool." He looks around finding himself alone. His serpents glow a bit as he scans the area, finding a beating rhythm charging him from behind. He CAN use the serpents to detect heartbeats, afterall.
He spins around, parrying a powered punch with one arm before elbowing Fate out of his invisibility spell. Fate skids back from the hit before eating a barrage of darness gun shots. The smoke clears, however, showing Fate unharmed. "Attacks of that level are nothing to me." He finishes before feeling a pull behind him. He turns to see a mass of black behind him sucking him in. He resists the pull and turns back to Jackie, who sends his serpents and spikes in, hitting Fate towards the black hole.
"How about a black hole, goldilocks?" Fate surprises him, containing the mini black hole with a golden field and throwing the anomaly at Jackie. "Oh. . . Shit." Jackie makes a second one, clashing the two pulling forces to cancel out and wipe out the entire street. The debris clears as both combatants stand opposite each other.
Fate looks over the hitman, seeing one of the tendrils hover and dissipate under an intact street light. Hmmmm.
Jackie prepares an attack before the darkness energy disappears, being replaced by the shine of various lights, headlights, street lights, and more that swarm in and hover around him. Jackie steadies himself as the darkness leaves him. "Damn." Fate jumps in and blasts him into the ground before binding him.
"To think. Some monsters CAN be kept away with a simple night light." He swings the helpless superhuman around like a rag doll, beating him into the ground. Jackie coughs up blood before looking up with a smile.
Darklings leap out from all the alley ways, smashing all the levitated lights. Fate whips his energy around, wiping them out before turning into a giant mass of solid darkness. Giant darkness appendages and several gigantic serpents made of darkness attack Fate, maneuvering around his shields and canceling his blasts by force. They pin and plow Fate through most of the city.
Fate rolls to his feet as several dozen Darklings jump in from around him, grabbing him and all his limbs before the bombs on them explode. . .
"This monster doesn't like insults." Jackie looks around the remains of the city, satisfied with the lights that begin to shut off. "My darklings cut the power to the city? Good. Now, to deal with the gold ranger and-"
He's cut off by the sort of blast usually accompanied by a 'Kamehameha'. It hits him dead on, launching him through the other half of the city. Fate walks through the city, glowing with his power. "No more playing. I'm ending you, NOW!"
What he find? Completely different. He sees Jackie, now covered in jet black armor like skin with two black angel wings. Everything around him begins to alter as Darkness energy begins to warp the city and construct a battleground more suited for him. "Lets dance."
The entire city cracks and blows apart as pure black clashes with gold. A sudden clash sends the glowing Dr. Fate through the battleground. He crashes into a skyscraper, causing the giant building to come down onto him before floating in air with a gold glow. Fate launches the building at his attacker as the enemy figure powers through the building at Fate.
Fate soars above the approaching threat, launching blast after blast at Jackie. Giant tendrils and spikes morph from the ground and attack Fate, who repulses them all away. Jackie speeds in, swiping his metallic clawed hands at the magic user, who ducks the swipe and spear tackles Jackie into the remains of downtown. He pins Jackie before the two serpents launch out, biting each of Fate's shoulders and sending him half a mile away. The serpents then glow and disintegrate as Fate charges his power.
Jackie does the same, before half the city is engulfed with a giant black hole. "GO TO HELL!" Jackie screams as Fate is sucked inside. The black hole disappears, leaving a massive crater. Just as Jackie thinks he won, a golden light blinds him as Fate exits his portal, punching Jackie with an energy powered fist. This sends Jackie back, but he stays on his feet.
Jackie charges in before Fate can react and returns a clawed hit at him, launching Fate miles away, leaving claw marks on Fate's helmet. Jackie blasts a massive barrage of tendril and darkness bolts at Fate, who summons his cross like symbol, which blocks the assault with ease.
"I'll gladly send you there." Fate charges his power and launches a massive planet busting beam at Jackie. Jackie responds with morphing the entire city around him into a giant wall of darkness energy. The beam clashes with it in a giant explosion.
When the blast clears, once again both combatants stand staring the other down. Jackie seems to growl in anger, launching another melee assault at Fate. Fate starts to dodge.
'He's getting more destructive. I need to cut off his power, but he won't let a light source exist long enough to affect him. We match power for power, so I have one option.' -Fate
Fate teleports miles away and begins to charge as much power as he can. Jackie charges him. The gap is closed as Fate releases his spell, binding Jackie with all his power. The result is a power struggle as the two fight for dominance. Fate wants this, however. His body glows as a golden shadow phases from his body and into Jackie. Jackie screams in pain. . .
(In his mind.)
Fate's soul self lands in the dark world of the Darkness. He looks forward, facing the entity itself. "All I need to do is disconnect you from the boy. Your control will cease over him, and I can take care of him if he causes further issues."
The darkness' voice seems to ring out in a chuckle. "That would be easy enough if it WAS me in control of him."
Fate's eyes go wide.
(Outside)
Jackie stands in his normal form. No serpents, no darkness. "I'll let the deities fight it out. With Fate in there, I can let the Darkness run wild." Jackie smirks while holding his head. He looks to Fate in front of him, standing still with no movement. "Your host has no say in the conflict?" He talks to himself. He then chuckles. "Thanks for the win." He pulls out a traditional trademark pistol and grabs the helmet with his offhand.
(Inside)
Fate struggles against the pure Darkness. Now here, he can only defend himself. Suddenly, his soul self lights up and disappears as the sound of three gun shots rings through the air.
(Outside)
Jackie holds the helmet of Fate as Fate's host falls over with three bullets in his chest. Suddenly, Jackie jerks around as he represses the Darkness back once more. He looks to Fate's host as he tries to get up to use a spell. Jackie just smirks as his serpents and Darklings charge him and begin to eat the body until one serpent retrieves the prize. . . his heart.
He looks to the scratched helmet. He looks into it and positions it over his head. "Nah. I have enough deity shit to deal with." He puts the helmet under his arm as he walks off.
K.O.!
HOT DAMN! That was an explosive battle.
There's a very simple reason as to why Jackie won, and not Fate. The two are virtually one and the same, yet total opposites.
Both fighters require a host body for the powers of the beings to project themselves.
Both wield planet destroying power and a wide range of abilities.
Both have similar stubborn minds.
The differences?
Fate fights with glowing magic and looks like a descendant from the heavens. Jackie fights with the Darkness, essentially the embodiment of evil.
The main difference, and the reason Jackie would win, is that JACKIE is the one fighting.
The fact that Jackie is the Darkness host can be used to his advantage for this sort of fight, whereas Fate simply takes full control of his host, thus negating any advantages that host can give.
If it were any other host of the Darkness? It would be a tie, since both would simply fight out with even power and control over their hosts, who can't fight for themselves.
The fight would go until Fate would need to try something risky in an attempt to win, and that would be where the host problem would present itself. Jackie would have no qualms about using that to his advantage.
If you wonder why Fate wouldn't just insta kill Jackie as soon as light became a factor is because it's the same thing as if Superman lost to someone because Kryptonite was present. It wouldn't be a win over Superman, it would be a win over a handicapped Superman, meaning you made no such accomplishment.
Even if it DID become a factor, Jackie has had to deal with light situations LITERALLY his entire existence. More than likely, he already has ways to get around it.
Plus, Jackie killed god. . . . . that's enough to give him my confidence right there.
Like I said, Both are essentially dead even, but one little factoid can tilt the odds in one's favor.
Here's food for thought. . . What if Jackie were to use the Helmet of Fate? He's already successfully tamed one source of ultimate power. If he were to gain another? Combine darkness and light?
Yeah, might wanna call sundipped Superman in on that one. The winner is Jackie Estacado.
NEXT TIME!
"IMPULSE, LAUNCH!"
"STRIKE LASER CLAW!"