Episode 1: The Meta (Red vs. Blue) vs. Black Beetle (Young Justice)

Artificial Intelligence. According to Moore's Law, for every two years that pass, technology will double in power. It's inevitable; one day A.I. will control the world. But, in the meantime, they'll just control individuals. Like the Meta, the Reds and Blues' most dangerous enemy, and Black Beetle, the Reach's greatest weapon. I'm LittleZbot, and it's my hobby to rip off other shows- I mean, to analyze their weapons, armor and skills to find out who might win a Death Battle.

Note that I am using the Dawur version of Black Beetle (known to most as the version from the Young Justice television show) rather than the Hector version (the version from the Blue Beetle comics). This is because, simply put, the Dawur version is much more well-known and has many more similarities to the Meta. Speaking of which, some of Black Beetle's past is based off what is implied in the Young Justice series (both Show & Comics) and may be shown wrong later. As this does not decrease from his power, it shouldn't have much of an impact. Also note that the Meta in this fight will be at his prime, which is during the events of Season 6. Therefore, he has all of his A.I. and armor equipment. Feats from both previous and future events will be taken into account, however.

With that being said, let's get into it.

The Meta:

During The Great War between the Humans and the Covenant, the UNSC grew desperate. With no end to the conflict in sight, they began funding several different projects, each of which was focusing on finding the "golden ticket," the secret weapon to winning the war. Project Freelancer was one such project. Focusing on researching special operation units with armor enhancements and A.I. implants, it recruited and trained the galaxy's greatest soldiers, and high up on the leaderboard was Agent Maine.

Hailing from parts unknown, Agent Maine was a brute. He was unmatched in both strength and durability, and he had more than enough skill in the ways of combat to hold his own. He quickly became one of Project Freelancer's deadliest agents, destroying everything in his way and completing every objective. Still, despite his amoral and sociopath tendencies, he also became friends with several other agents, learning from them and gaining their support. Everything changed, however, during one fateful mission when Maine was shot nine times in the throat in an effort to save Agent Carolina's life. Though he was able to get up and continue fighting, Maine would never speak again.

Even though she was scheduled to receive one next, feeling responsible for his injury, Carolina decided to grant Maine her A.I. implant in order for him to be able to communicate with others and remain a dangerous foe on the battlefield. But, as it turns out, giving away an A.I. you were specifically chosen for isn't a great idea. See, even though Project Freelancer's entire purpose was to study A.I. in the field, they could only ever get their hands on a single one. Desperate to complete his program, the Director began torturing the A.I. until it would split off a portion of its personality to save itself from total deterioration. These fragments were harvested and given to Agents as A.I. units. Sigma, Maine's new A.I., was created when the original A.I., Alpha, shed its creativity and ambition, ensuring that Sigma was composed entirely of these two traits. Shortly after being implanted, Sigma became obsessed with the idea of "Metastability" - the state in which an A.I. can become human. Eventually, he found data that suggested it was possible if he could gather enough A.I. and fragments into one being. As a result, he began controlling and manipulating Maine, eventually removing his input completely and transforming him into the deadly weapon known as the Meta. The Meta immediately began hunting down other Freelancers, killing them and stealing their A.I. and equipment.

But even the strongest fighters can use some good weapons, and Meta has two he carries on him at all times. The first is his standard sidearm, the M6G Magnum Pistol. Though it may not look impressive, a single shot can tear through a stone pillar and cut through most kinds of armor. While the amount of shots it carries is supposed to be limited to 8, he's shot it more than twenty times before and it hasn't run out, which should be physically impossible, but nonetheless useful. But his favorite weapon is a personal prize from the very mission he lost his voice at: The Brute Shot. This Type-25 Grenade Launcher is a two-handed knife/grenade launcher that is used very effectively in combat, and has been the last thing many people saw. Similar to the Magnum, its ammo capacity should be limited to 16, but it…isn't. Which is good for The Meta, as a single grenade can obliterate an armored vehicle, and the blade can slice through solid steel like butter. Not only that, but it's incredibly durable. The Meta has used it to block multiple gunshots without so much as a scratch. It is widely hailed as one of the most dangerous weapons in the world - so it's only fitting that such a monster as the Meta would be the one to use it most.

But as good as his weapons are, they can hardly compare to his armor. The M374 Hephaestus Combat Suit is a powerful suit that can even tank sniper bullets and be hit by more than ten simultaneous trip mine explosions without so much as a scratch, and yet is still lightweight and non-restrictive. Its best feature, however, is its ability to be equipped with multiple armor enhancements. By killing several other Freelancers, the Meta was able to collect their armor enhancements and use them for himself. These enhancements include the Enhanced Motion Tracker, a device that allows him to see on all layers of the visible spectrum, including infrared, as well as being able to see through walls and buildings. The Bioscan allows him to scan all surrounding life and display their vitals and current condition. His Voice Manipulator lets him, well, manipulate voices, and his Adaptive Camouflage changes the color of his armor at will in order to blend into a crowd.

But none of these are anywhere near his best enhancements. His Active Camouflage turns him almost totally invisible, both on a visual and sensor range. The Overshield creates a personal energy shield that absorbs and redirects any and all impacts, essentially acting like an invincibility mode until it takes too much damage and breaks. Of course, it tanked a few missiles and several point-blank shotgun blasts without issue, so it would take quite a bit to break through. The Domed Energy shield is similar to the Overshield, but can be activated and deactivated upon command, engulfs a much larger space, and stays put as long as the Meta does. And while the Meta can't use his weapons while contained inside the shield, as no projectile or, well, anything else, can get in or out, it's impossible to break through, easily tanking anti-aircraft missiles and a nuclear explosion.

Then there's his Strength Boost enhancement, which boosts his already incredible strength to absurd levels. As this was received from Agent Texas, we are able to judge approximately how strong it does make him. Texas once caught and threw an enormous metal crate with absolute ease while using it. Assuming that she is around 6' high, and that the crate is made of steel with an average thickness of three inches, neither of which is unusual for a crate of that size, it's at least 12 feet high and 30 feet long, and weighs approximately 53,000 lb. when full. To throw something that heavy as far and fast as she did must have taken around 265 tons of force. And he's even deadlier with it, as he's outmatched Texas in terms of strength when both were using it.

However, that still isn't his best enhancement. That honor belongs to Agent Wyoming's Temporal Distortion unit - an enhancement that plays with time itself. Using this unit allows the Meta to slow down time to a near-stop for just under a minute, allowing him to either escape an impossible situation or deal enormous damage to his foes without anyone else interfering. Agent Wyoming most commonly used its other feature, however: Rewinding small sections of time to undo mistakes or failure, much like a checkpoint system in video games. And while the Meta has never officially used this, it's implied that he can. The only problem with this enhancement is that it takes up a lot of power to use, and so can only be used once or twice at any given time. Actually, all of these enhancements take up power when in use, and if he runs out of power, as he has before, all his enhancements quit working until he finds a place he can recharge at. In addition, using them effectively requires the use of an A.I., which, considering he has eight, can play havoc with his mind. Still, the enhancements usually give him such a leg up that, 99 times out of 100, it's worth the trade.

Even without his enhancements or weapons, the Meta is still an incredibly dangerous individual. He's strong enough to stop a speeding car in its tracks, fast enough to dodge point-blank gunfire, and so tough that he's taken a point-blank shot from his own Brute Shot, been sprayed with chaingun bullets, hit by two missiles, and shot through the foot with a sniper round, and hardly acted as though he noticed. He's crushed a Warthog (a type of armored vehicle) just by jumping on it, and lifted and threw another one with absolute ease. He's been run over by a speeding truck, impaled several times, taken an enormous number of shots to the chest and head, and took nine bullets to the throat, and was up and fighting again in seconds each time. He's defeated and killed several of the most powerful Freelancers, including Agents Texas, Washington, and North Dakota, who are essentially the supersoldiers of other supersoldiers, killed an enormous number of trained soldiers with ease, and once, when he was caught in a shattered, falling section of a cliffside, he jumped from piece to piece faster than each one fell, allowing him to successfully make his way back up far enough to jump out, grab his falling Brute Shot out of thin air, and smash it into the remaining cliff, allowing him to slowly climb the cliff wall and survive. There's a reason many believe him to be more monster than man.

But just because he isn't man doesn't mean he has no weaknesses. His fighting style relies on aggression and power and, though superior to most forms of combat, is a large disadvantage when fighting more agile foes. Running out of power for his armor enhancements is a constant worry, and, above all, having so many voices in his head at once has made him completely mentally unstable. For example, when Agent Carolina had two A.I.s in her head at once, she only functioned for a short while before going comatose. The Meta, meanwhile, has eight A.I.s, each of which has different structures and wishes. True, when they do agree on something and guide him toward it, he acts far more efficiently than any human possibly could, but that's rare - most of the time, it's a jumbled mess in there. And, to top it all off, his A.I. can be meddled with and even destroyed under certain circumstances, leaving a broken, confused, and much more easily defeated man. And then there's the fact that he has died - though it took five soldiers and two Freelancers ganging up on him, more than ten land mine explosions, being stabbed and impaled five times, being shot at point-blank range another five times, the explosion of a warthog, being hit by a crashing airship, and being dragged off a cliff by a falling warthog into the ocean below to finally do him in.

With all that power, it's no wonder The Meta is considered the most dangerous villain in the Red vs. Blue universe.

Tex looks at Maine in evident horror as he slides his helmet on and flexes his body. Glancing around quickly, she flees, running as fast as she can away from Maine. Sigma, Eta, and Iota appear around Maine's head. Sigma looks at the fleeing Tex, a smile on his face, and speaks.

"You run, Agent Texas. We are the Meta, and we will find you. Very soon."

The Meta:
Name: Meta (Formerly Agent Maine)

Species: Human
Age: Unknown
Height: 6'4"/193 cm
Weight: Unknown
Occupation: Former Freelancer

Mute
Scared of Heights
Most Powerful RvB Character

Weapons:
M6G Magnum Pistol
Brute Shot

Extra Grenades

Armor:
The M374 Hephaestus Combat Suit

- Enhancements:

Enhanced Motion Tracker

Strength Boost

Overshield

Adaptive Camouflage
Bioscan

Voice Manipulator

Active Camouflage

Domed Energy Shield

Temporal Distortion

Feats:

Has one of the highest kill counts in Red vs. Blue thus far

Defeated several freelancers (inc. Washington, North Dakota, Texas)
Staged a one-man raid on Project Freelancer HQ
Tanked 9 shots to the throat, got up seconds later, ready to fight
The only agent capable of fighting after several shots of Hardening Paint

Defeated Agent Washington while weak & low on power

Tanked 10 Trip Mine explosions with ease

Jumped from a falling cliffside, grabbed the Brute Shot out of thin air, and smashed the cliffside with it, allowing him to survive
Took a sniper round to the chest, got up seconds later unaffected

Effortlessly lifted a Warthog

Crushed a Warthog by jumping on it

Stopped a speeding car with his bare hands

Decapitated a fully armored man with a single punch

Took a point-blank shot from his own Brute Shot

Been shot & impaled multiple times, hardly affected

Dodged point-blank gunfire

Dodged automatic fire & chain gun rounds

Weaknesses:

Fighting style a disadvantage against very skilled fighters

Over-relies on his enhancements

Enhancements drain energy quickly

Completely and totally mentally unstable

Killed by a bunch of idiots

A.I. can be destroyed, specifically by certain EMP emissions

…

Black Beetle:

The Reach. A powerful and technologically advanced spacefaring race, the Reach were conquerors, using their advantages in firepower and tactics to take over entire planets. Slowly, but surely, they began making progress toward their goal of conquering the entire galaxy. But, as it turns out, if you set out to hold technologically inferior people at gunpoint and take over entire civilizations, you're bound to be noticed by the police. In this case, the Reach were noticed by the DC space police, also known as the Green Lanterns, who quickly set out to stop them. The two powerhouses fought to a stalemate, and, in the end, the Reach agreed to a treaty that only allows them to visit and control worlds if they were invited to do so.

But any police officer of any universe should know it's a bad idea to restrict a race this smart with a rule that vague. The Reach immediately set out to find a loophole in this restriction, and prepare themselves for when the Green Lanterns rose to stop them again. They needed something that could easily and remotely conquer planets with the people even welcoming it, and something that could go toe-to-toe with the Green Lanterns in combat. So they created the scarabs, and killed two birds with one stone. Scarabs are Artificial Intelligence units shaped like beetles. They attach themselves to a humanoid's spine, take over their mind, and encase them in a powerful suit of beetle-like armor, turning them from a helpless nobody into one of the galaxy's most powerful warriors. Scarabs were randomly sent to planets across the galaxy, waiting to be stumbled upon and take the humanoid as their host. These "beetles" would act as advance units on the Reach's behalf, gathering data and finding ways for the Reach to be invited on-world, and then assisting when taking it over after they were. But somebody had to be first - someone had to try the scarab, and determine just how powerful it was. And a Reach member named Dawur was the perfect choice.

Dawur was the Reach's enforcer. An excellent fighter with a great mind for tactics and a knack for seeing the truth behind matters, he'd already shown himself capable of taking on superheroes. He seemed a natural fit for a scarab implant, and readily agreed to the procedure. It turned out to be the greatest mistake of his life - or the greatest success, depending on how you look at it. Turns out that an artificial intelligence that takes over the host's body makes no exceptions for members of the Reach, and all of Dawur's experience, skill, and forethought were now absorbed into a very sadistic and dangerous outside mind. And so was born Black Beetle, the deadliest weapon in the galaxy.

I say that literally. Black Beetle's armor is a shapeshifting Swiss Army Knife, containing dozens of weapons and features at his disposal. His arms can change into maces, lockpicks, drills, and even a battering ram, among many other things. His primary weapons that his arms can become would be his beetle-like scythes, each of which can cut through most metals, which he uses with deadly skill. When his enemies get out of range for his scythes, he switches to his Plasma Cannons, guns that shoot unlimited bursts of plasma energy. They can shoot several rapid-fire shots, each of which will blow through a wall, or can charge to produce more concentrated, far more powerful blasts of energy. But his most powerful weapon housed in those arms would be his Sonic Cannons, which fire huge bursts of sound that physically knock back and even kill anyone who gets in his way. A concentrated blast at full power once one-shotted an Appellaxian Golem, a creature as big as a nuclear power plant that's supposed to be able to rebound soundwaves.

But that's not all his armor can do. Besides the array of weapons, it has a variety of functions that have served him invaluably over time - like the beetle wings and rocket pack combination that allows him flight approaching the speed of sound. His Motion Tracker sees on all layers of the visible spectrum, including infrared, as well as being able to see through walls and buildings. His Sensors keep track of everyone around him, but are way more advanced than a simple life count. They can scan any object and determine its exact makeup and any weaknesses in its structure. Black Beetle can even use this to tell if someone is lying or not. He can also create Reach Eggs, which are basically egg-shaped data nodes that carry specific programs from place to place. Then there's his multi-lingual translator, capable of registering, analyzing and translating any language in the universe and even manipulating certain sounds and voices.

But none of these are anywhere near the best of his abilities. He has a built-in holomatrix that allows him to create holograms or holographic imagery, and electrodes spread throughout his armor to turn himself into a humanoid taser, if necessary. He's capable of connecting to and manipulating nearly any electronic device just by touching it, and can even use this to destroy or assimilate other scarabs and A.I. units with extendable wires - though this does have the potential to backfire if the A.I. is either stronger than him or working alongside a human mind. His arms can also transform into Staple Guns - which aren't weapons, per say, but are incredibly durable and capable of restraining the likes of Superboy, who can tear through tanks like wet paper. And now we get to his most powerful weapon, the Chest Cannon. This powerful plasma cannon is formed when Black Beetle fuses his arms and chest together, creating an enormous gun that can obliterate skyscrapers in a single shot. It does take a couple of seconds to recharge afterward, but generally, after he's used it once, his opponent is dead, so it doesn't matter.

And then there's his processing power - a surprising ability that enhances his already higher-than-average information processing speed to absurd levels. With this he can track and judge the movements of his opponents and predict how the next steps of the battle will go with ease. He was easily able to track and judge the movements of Impulse, who can move at a bare minimum of 7000 mph. To be clear, this doesn't make him as fast as Impulse - not even close. But he was able to predict his moves and judge the timing to deliver a single knockout blow. And, since he saw Impulse in slow-motion, as if he were merely walking rather than going at hypersonic speeds, this means that he actually sees and processes the world around him over a thousand times faster than a normal person, allowing him to predict most possible actions even without any extra systems.

But that still isn't his armor's most useful feature. That honor belongs to its regenerative systems. After taking any kind of blow that injures the armor or the body beneath in some way, nanobots are sent out to completely regenerate any damage done in seconds. The armor can be completely obliterated and still regenerate in under a minute, and any other kind of wound can usually be fixed in less than five seconds. The only flaws the system has are that it takes longer to regenerate the organic flesh beneath the armor, and regenerating from magical attacks or if a major organ has been hit can take hours. Still, that's a very low price to pay for a healing factor to match Wolverine's.

But even without his weapons or other systems, Black Beetle is still incredibly dangerous. He's strong enough to knock out Superboy in a couple of hits, fast enough to dodge missiles and catch bullets, and so tough that he's taken building-sized explosions, a plasma bath, and point-blank missiles without a scratch. He's been shocked with thousands of volts of electricity, been shot with high-powered lasers, and tanked blasts of sounds that could shatter buildings and acted as though he hardly noticed. He's equaled and even defeated Blue Beetle in combat, knocked out Ty's Astral Form, a being that effortlessly lifted the roof of a building and crushed everything in its way, with a single blow, and outmatched both Superboy and Wonder Girl in terms of strength - multiple times! He's fought and defeated most of the Young Justice team at once, including powerful foes like Superboy, Lagoon Boy, Wonder Girl, and Miss Martian. He's gone toe-to-toe and won against some of the galaxy's heaviest hitters, including Mongul and Green Beetle, and even, in the end, took over the Reach completely. And, once, he faced off against some of the most powerful members of the Team at once, including Impulse, Blue Beetle, and Arsenal, and literally stood there and took everything they threw at him for some minutes, and then effortlessly wiped them out in less than a minute. It's quite clear that the Reach made a good decision when they turned Dawur into this monster.

But just because he's powerful doesn't mean he's invincible. His fighting style is sloppy and relies on aggression and power, which ends up being an enormous downside when fighting more agile foes. Magic is a constant worry, as his armor is very vulnerable to it, and he's easily knocked around by powerful blows or explosions. He doesn't work well when attacked from all sides, his armor can be penetrated by very sharp or hot weapons, and if Dawur's body dies, the scarab is forced to detach and is unable to do anything, making him very vulnerable if someone can destroy his armor. Above all, he's way overconfident. Winning every fight he's been in has made him sloppy and lazy in his approach, and he seriously doesn't think that he can be defeated. As stated before, often he'll literally just stand there for minutes at a time taking hits for absolutely no reason other than to show off. He doesn't even take this time to strategize or predict his opponent's moves, so there is no reason for it! And, to top it all off, his scarab and armor can be tampered with and even destroyed by certain sound frequencies - a few seconds under two sonic weapons set to 27 Angstroms exactly nearly obliterated his armor and hurt the scarab majorly. And, in the end, the scarab was eventually destroyed by Blue Beetle, killing the Black Beetle personalities in the process.

But still, for all his power and all he's done, it's no wonder he's considered the most powerful of the Beetles.

Black Beetle slams Wonder Girl into a Reach door and readies to punch her before seeing Miss Martian shifting through the door. He instantly reaches out and touches it, and suddenly Miss Martian becomes tangible and stuck halfway through the door. The pressure is too much, and she collapses. Wonder Girl, seeing her near-lifeless form, shouts at Black Beetle.

"What did you do to her?!"

Cracking a smile, Black Beetle answers. "Shifted the density of the door. Wasn't quite prepared for that, was she? But don't be jealous. I can put you halfway through the door, too. Halfway - the hard way." He begins slamming Wonder Girl into the door over and over again, until she drops, unconscious.

Black Beetle:

Name: Black Beetle (Formerly Dawur)

Species: Reach
Age: At least 3000 years old, physically 40
Height: 7'2"/ 218 cm
Weight: Unknown
Occupation: Reach Warrior/Reach Leader

Refers to all humanoids as "Meat"
The first of the Beetles

Likes fresh fruit?

Armor:

Black Beetle Suit

- Systems:

Regeneration

1500x Normal Processing Speed

Multi-Lingual Translator

Control of Electronics

Motion Tracker

Holomatrix

Sensors

Electrodes

Wings/Rocket Pack

- Shapeshifting:

Scythes

Plasma Cannon

Sound Cannon

Staple Gun

Some Weird Arm Punchy Things

Reach Eggs

Maces

Battering Ram

Lockpicks

Drills

Chest Cannon

Feats:

Fought & defeated most of the Young Justice Team at once

One-shotted an Appellaxian

One-shotted Ty's Astral Form

Killed Count Vertigo with a single blow

Tanked an explosion the size of a large building

Completely unaffected by a Plasma Bath
Survived multiple other powerful blows, including missiles, sound blasts, earthquake-creating punches, lasers, electric shocks, among many many other things

Smashes through steel with little effort

Trumped both Superboy and Wonder Girl in strength

Knocked out Superboy several times

Registered, tracked, and took down Impulse - twice

Defeated Aqualad, Green Beetle, Mongul in seconds

Equaled & defeated Blue Beetle

Took over the Reach

Weaknesses:

Fighting style crude; relies on aggression and heavily countered by agile foes

Absurdly overconfident

Will literally just stand there taking hits for no reason but to show off

Regeneration of flesh takes more time

Scarab can be destroyed if it attempts to destroy an A.I. more powerful than it

Certain sound frequencies (specifically 27 Angstroms) will literally tear his armor apart

Doesn't work well when attacked from all sides

Armor can be penetrated if something is sharp enough or hot enough

Knocked around constantly by explosions

Vulnerable to magic

…

All right, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all - or at least until somebody irrevocably proves me wrong. It's time for a Death Battle!

…

"Look, I'm just saying that when I signed up for this, I didn't know it was going to be this boring!" a black-clad soldier said to the guy next to him. They were walking down a hallway and…that's it. They did nothing but patrol this hallway every day, all day, which, as you might have guessed, was what this soldier was complaining about.

"Uh-huh," his neighbor acknowledged, not really paying any attention.

"I mean, I know that soldier-for-hire means that I'm a soldier for hire and all, but I'm not sure anyone, even the Reach, can pay enough for this. And this isn't even soldiering!"

"Look, Donald, this is our first job in a while. I'm just happy to be able to pay the rent for once," his neighbor replied. Despite not paying attention, he knew Donald well enough to figure out what he was complaining about, and that he was really sick of his complaining.

"That's easy for you to say, Vance, but-"

Vance held out a finger. "Quiet. Check your motion sensor."

Slightly confused, Donald flipped a switch. "I don't see anything."

"It's gone," Vance told him, "but a moment ago there was a life sign in that room." He pointed a finger toward a door up and to the left.

"But that's a restricted room. Full of experimental weapons and stuff."

"Or it's just still under construction."

"Hey, you believe your boring theory, and I'll believe my awesome one. Either way, could've been a sensor glitch."

"Yeah, maybe so." Vance sounded unconvinced. "Okay, I'll check it out. Keep an eye on those motion sensors. If anything happens, you know what to do."

"Run screaming for my life? Yeah, I'm totally on top of that."

Vance sighed and cracked open the door. "I'm going in." He slipped inside.

It wasn't five seconds before another life sign appeared alongside Vance's. The two mixed, and suddenly with a gunshot, one vanished. Instantly the idea of fleeing left Donald's mind and he ran in to see what happened. He was greeted with the sight of a black-clad soldier with his back to Donald standing in front of the dead body of another black-clad soldier.

"Who was he, Vance? Is he dead?" Donald stepped closer.

Then the man who was still alive turned around and Donald gulped. Despite their friendship, he actually didn't know Vance very well. But he did know that Vance had never worn a helmet like that before.

"Oh, son of a-"

The Meta's fist flew out and decapitated Donald with a single punch, ensuring he would never finish those words.

The coloring on the Meta's suit slowly shifted from black to white once more, and as he stood over the two men he'd killed, a small, orange, fiery holographic figure appeared directly in front of him. The floating, humanoid figure put a hand on his chin.

"Our Bioscan shows there's an A.I. here. A complete one," Sigma said, to nobody in particular.

An equally small, purple figure appeared to the left to him. "Is it the Alpha?" the fragment asked excitedly.

Sigma shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Theta." This elicited a disappointed groan from the purple fragment, so Sigma was quick to add "But it is just as powerful, perhaps even more so. I'm reading that it's attached to a humanoid host. If we kill the host, we may be able to harvest the A.I., and with its help we would be far closer to metastability. Perhaps even going all the way there."

A beige-colored figure appeared to his right. "I hope so, if it means I can get away from you."

A half of a smile elicited itself on Sigma's face. "Always a pleasure to work with you, Omega. Shhh. The host is approaching. Recommended strategy, Delta?"

A green figure appeared and joined the rest. "The host is very powerful. Perhaps we should not-"

"That's always your biggest flaw, Delta." Sigma sighed. "You never wish to take risk to gain rewards, no matter what those rewards may be. If we are able to take this unit, we may become human at last. Isn't that worth any risk in the world?"

Seeing that Sigma would not change his mind, Delta replied "In that case, I recommend hiding near the upper ceiling of this corner. If he is not stronger than we anticipate, I see a 62% chance we can take him by surprise and be done with it in seconds."

Sigma smiled. "That's what I want to hear. Let's power up the overshield, just in case. Get the twins on it. What about the Active Camouflage?

"I recommend against it currently. If he does survive, we won't want to advertise our full arsenal."

Sigma nodded. "A wise- or should I say, logical, idea. Is everyone ready?" There were nods of affirmation. "Very well. Let's do this."

…

Black Beetle scowled. With Green Beetle and Blue Beetle on-world, he was left alone to patrol and check up on the insolent, useless meat the Reach had hired for security. The very notion that had Reach had needed to hire security in the first place appalled him. Was he not good enough? He could take on every challenger this world had to offer at once and prevail. Security indeed. These meat bags held no purpose but to die to an invader, alerting Black Beetle to their presence, whereupon he could kill whoever it was in seconds. Could, but didn't. It was far more fun to watch them squirm, watch them bleed, and watch their faces as they began to regret every decision in their lives that had led to this moment. It was so…satisfying. Unfortunately, hardly anyone was foolish enough to try invading the Reach ship. It was likely word had gotten around after the first man he had maimed's partner had escaped. The name of Black Beetle, and by extension, the Reach, was likely feared all throughout the upper galaxy now. Which, luckily, did not include Earth. If Earth had caught wind of his, or the Reach's, true nature, it would not be good.

Suddenly, he noticed something on his visor. His Motion Detector was counting three life signs in a room shortly ahead. He frowned, and glared at nobody in particular. Not only was that a restricted room (for absolutely no reason, as far as Black Beetle could tell), but there were only supposed to be two soldiers - if he could bear to call them that - patrolling that hallway in the first place. Then, as he watched, one life sign vanished. Less than ten seconds later, another was gone, as well.

There was an intruder aboard - one who had just killed the two meat bags guarding the area. He gave out a grim smile. Finally, a way to stretch his muscles. He'd been itching to kill something recently, and the Ambassador's rule of "No killing the soldiers" had been getting harder and harder to follow. This poor intruder was now on the receiving end of the most powerful weapon in the galaxy out for blood. He doubled his pace, eager to reach the room the intruder was contained in.

Once he did reach it, he blew down the door, because…well, he didn't care. To his surprise, he saw nothing. His motion sensors had gone blank - the third life sign must be staying stock-still. Grumbling, he moved to the end of the room and turned around so he faced nearly the whole thing. He switched to his sensors. If there was anything here, he would find it.

Quietly, carefully, the Meta rose from his spot behind Black Beetle. He took his Brute Shot out from behind his back, sounding the tiniest ding as it touched his armor - which Black Beetle heard immediately. The Meta jumped up and brought the Brute Shot's knife down, intending to slice the Reach enforcer's head in half. Instantly, Black Beetle transformed his arms into scythes, crossed, them, and turned around, catching the Brute Shot's blade in the nick of time.

-FIGHT!-

The Brute Shot's blade slid off the backside off the scythes, and the Meta quickly swung again, at a different angle. He was blocked by one of the scythes while the other went to stab him in the stomach. Immediately changing tactics, the Meta slid his blade down, catching the scythe before it reached its target, and with his enormous strength, he shoved Black Beetle back. The Meta kicked out, catching Black Beetle in the chest, knocking him back once more.

Black Beetle recovered and grinned. "Oh, this meat's got some kick to it." He chuckled at his own joke. The Meta clearly didn't see what was so funny about it, and stabbed straight out, hoping to jam the point of his blade right in the Beetle's stomach before he could recover, but he immediately brought his arm-scythes together, catching the Brute Shot, and, by shoving outward, sending it flying.

Not wasting any time, the Meta headbutted Black Beetle, throwing him back a few steps, and brought out his M6G Magnum, which he fired several times right away. Grinning, his opponent stood there, ready for the bullets to simply bounce off his armor. Though they didn't do any harm and did bounce off his armor, the first one shoved him back slightly, and the next few forced him several steps back with a few grunts.

"Looks like these weapons are a little more powerful than I thought," announced Black Beetle aloud. Seeing more bullets on the way, he switched one of his hands to a sound cannon and fired once, scattering the oncoming bullets. Immediately afterward, he switched the hand to his plasma cannon and fired several rapid-fire shots at the Meta. The Meta ignored them and ran forward at top speed. As the enforcer watched, the plasma dissipated as it hit the Meta, revealing a golden, skin-tight shield that had protected the Meta from harm. Then, suddenly, the former freelancer was in Black Beetle's face and launched a powerful punch aimed directly at his head. The punch connected, twisting the Beetle's neck and face around and sending him to the floor.

With the Meta's fist still embedded in his cheek, Black Beetle's head suddenly whipped around to its original position.

"Nuh-uh-uh. My turn."

Black Beetle's other arm immediately transformed into another plasma cannon, and both charged, met, and shot a powerful blast into the Meta's stomach, sending him flying a few feet away. Though his overshield saved him from any actual harm, he still struggled slightly getting up due to the change in momentum. Spotting his Brute Shot, the Meta dove for it, only to be intercepted by a large staple, which pushed him, along with itself, into the wall, where it quickly embedded itself to prevent him from escaping.

Black Beetle reached toward the Meta with his Staple Gun arms and shot out an additional four that trapped his legs and arms. One of the corners of his mouth went up. "Nice try, meat. But you can't escape now. Those staples are capable of holding-"

The Meta wasn't listening, due to him being too busy pulling the staples out with his strength alone. In seconds, he was loose once more and charging toward Black Beetle.

The Beetle was shocked. "What?!" He fired another staple right at the Meta's chest. The Meta simply caught the staple, mid-air, and jumped up once he was close enough, slamming the staple into Black Beetle's armor and raking it down him. Black Beetle cried out, though more in surprise than in pain. While the staple had made an enormous notch all the way down his armor, it repaired itself quickly. Seething, Black Beetle transformed an arm into an enormous mace and slammed it into the Meta. Again, the Meta's overshield absorbed any damage the impact could have done, but it smacked the Meta back to where he'd lost his Brute Shot. The Meta quickly grabbed it and pointed the grenade launcher half at Black Beetle. In two seconds, he'd launched three grenades. Not expecting this, Black Beetle was caught off-guard and thrown back by the first grenade's explosion, though this caused the other two to miss.

Black Beetle looked down at his armor. Some abrasions and scorch marks, which was to be expected after an explosion. The damage was already almost completely repaired. But if he kept letting this creature hit him like this, eventually he might be able to do damage that couldn't be repaired. It was time for him to kick it up a notch. He laughed. "So, meat, you can shoot." Wings began to extend behind him. "But can you fly?" He transformed his arms into sound cannons and tore up into the air. He flew around the room in a circle, constantly launching sound waves at the Meta. The Meta simply let the sound waves bounce off his overshield and kept firing his Brute Shot. Each grenade came close to hitting Black Beetle, but thanks to his navigational systems, none of them connected. Tiring of this, Black Beetle flew down and grabbed the Meta, wrapping his arms around his stomach and flying up into the air with him. Infuriated, the Meta smashed his Brute Shot's blade into Black Beetle's back, piercing through the scarab and reaching skin. With a shout of pain, Black Beetle was suddenly unfocused, and they both smashed through back wall, creating an enormous hole as they fell down and smashed into the new room's floor. It was a large, brightly-lit, dome-shaped place with a glass ceiling and white tiles - a training room.

After they both collapsed onto the floor, the Meta was the first to stand. The golden glow around him crackled and dissipated - his overshield had taken too much abuse and was now gone. While he still could, he took advantage of the situation. He grabbed the Brute Shot and activated his Active Camouflage, turning invisible and moving out of the way. After a quick struggle, during which his scarab completely healed, Black Beetle stood up and looked around. He saw nothing. Scowling, he activated his sensors, but he still picked up nothing.

"That's impossible," he growled. "He's still here, isn't he?"

In answer, he was suddenly struck by a powerful blow and knocked back. Glancing at his side, he saw a finely-cut notch cut into his armor. It'd heal before ten seconds were up, but what had made it? And why couldn't he sense it? Before he had time to ponder this, he was hit by three powerful explosions, knocking him several feet and sending him to the ground. Groaning, he attempted to stand, but another powerful blow shoved him back down.

"He has a way to cloak himself," he realized. Well, that should be a simple adjustment. Instead of looking on the normal visible scale, he set his sensors to search for anomalies in space instead - things that didn't belong. In seconds, he had the Meta's exact location. He was bearing down, readying another punch.

"As I believe the humans say," he declared, turning around and catching the invisible Meta's punch in his hand, "Gotcha."

The Meta turned visible once more and sliced upward with his Brute Shot, putting another notch in Black Beetle's armor and forcing him back. He launched another grenade, striking Black Beetle in the chest. Dropping his Brute Shot and charging through the smoke left by the grenade, the Meta launched a barrage of punches at Black Beetle's face. But he was stopped after his fourth blow when Black Beetle grabbed his arms and unleashed a powerful electric shock, sending the Meta into enormous bouts of pain and open to attack. Cracking his knuckles, Black Beetle launched a punch of his own, an uppercut that sent the Meta flying into the air. Switching to his scythes, he then unleashed a lightning-quick series of slices and dices on the Meta as he fell back to the ground. The Meta landed on his back behind Black Beetle, bleeding in several places, but immediately got up nonetheless. Black Beetle changed to his sonic cannon and launched a powerful sound wave that sent the Meta several feet back and tore open his cuts further, leading to a heavily bleeding, woozy Meta trying to regain his balance.

Intent on keeping his advantage, Black Beetle flew up into the air until he reached the ceiling and pointed his weapons down at the Meta. The Meta looked up, and, suddenly, there wasn't one Black Beetle - there were hundreds, each of which looked the exact same. They all spoke at once.

"So, meat, which one do you choose? Can you tell fact from fiction?"

The Meta clenched his fist and picked up his Brute Shot again. There may be hundreds of Black Beetles in the air, but according to his Bioscan, only one was real. He took careful aim and launched a grenade.

Not expecting him to have been picked out among the holograms immediately, Black Beetle was hit by the grenade right in his stomach. The explosion knocked him out of the air and damaged his wings. As he fell, he was suddenly hit by another grenade in the same spot, sending his body flying backwards while still falling. Somehow, though, another grenade still found its target right in the same spot, and, when he landed, another.

Clenching his teeth, Black Beetle looked down at his stomach to find, to his surprise, a large patch of his armor there had been obliterated. Somehow, this creature had managed to get past his impenetrable armor. He stood up. It was fine. The gap would be closed in under a minute, and the meat was too far away to-

He gave out a shocked Urgh! as he felt something slam into his insides. Hazily, he looked down, and stumbled, falling to one knee. The meat's weapon, or at least, the giant blade of it, was lodged in his exposed stomach. Some way, somehow, the meat had managed to throw the weapon with such force and accuracy that it had struck him, full force, in his most vulnerable spot at over a hundred yards away. Struggling to keep his balance, Black Beetle managed to carefully, painfully, extract the knife from his midsection. He gave out a gasp. His nanobots were already hard at work repairing the wound. It would take some time, but he would be fine, assuming he could finish this fight quickly.

He narrowed his eyes. Which was exactly what he was going to do. Even now, he saw the meat running toward him. It wouldn't get here in time. He forced a large, hollow tube out of his chest, then transformed both his arms to join up with it. He immediately began to charge up his chest cannon. When the Meta was within a hundred feet, he unleashed it. An enormous, incredibly powerful wave of blue plasma energy shot out, intent on incinerating everything in its path. Black Beetle cracked a smile. There was no way the meat could survive it.

But, before it was even within fifty feet of the Meta, a golden, domed energy shield with hexagon-like patterns appeared around him. The blast hit the shield and spread out around it. The plasma blast was more than powerful enough to encompass the entire shield, but no matter how much power he put into it, it wouldn't break through. Feeling weakened, Black Beetle stopped the blast. The domed shield was unharmed, and the meat inside of it was unharmed as well.

Gritting his teeth, Black Beetle tested his systems. His wings were damaged, so he couldn't fly, but his rocket pack was fully functional. With its help, he could put on an enormous burst of speed when the meat least expected it. So he unhooked the chest cannon and waited. And, when the Meta took down his shield and began running again, Black Beetle summoned a huge burst of power and fed it to his rocket pack. Without warning, he blasted forward at incredible speeds, smashing into the Meta and dragging him through the floor, leaving blood everywhere. As they smashed into another wall, Black Beetle rolled back and poured his energy back into his strength enhancers, launching a blow at the Meta that should split him in two.

Seeing what was happening, the Meta managed to activate his Strength Boost enhancement. He instantly caught Black Beetle's flying fist, stopping it in its tracks. Black Beetle tried to punch with his other hand, but the Meta caught it without effort. Immediately, Black Beetle transformed his left hand into a plasma cannon, charging up and shooting a powerful blast at the Meta's head. But the Meta saw this coming, and simply shoved the cannon upwards right as it discharged, causing Black Beetle to engulf his own head in plasma energy and cry out. The Meta let go of Black Beetle's hands and delivered the strongest punch he could to his chest. The blow was so strong, the shockwave shattered the glass roof and sent Black Beetle to the other side of the room. The area that had been punched was heavily damaged, and by now Black Beetle's nanobots were overwhelmed, trying to repair dozens of places in dozens of ways at once, not to mention his own flesh.

The Meta shoved himself off the wall, flying forward and landing in front of Black Beetle. That one punch had nearly burned out his strength enhancement, so he was forced to revert the power to other enhancements.

Desperate, Black Beetle scanned the Meta for weak points. It was his best chance, now. He saw several points of interest. This human had clusters of electronic implants in his brain, several subsystems that he had already been exposed to, and…here's what he was looking for. At one point, this meat bag had been shot several times in the throat, leaving it dangerously tender. Instantly, Black Beetle transformed a hand into a battering ram and smashed it into the Meta's throat. This knocked him to the floor and left him writhing. With a jump and a blast of his plasma cannon, Black Beetle had irrevocably damaged the Meta's organs. Transforming an arm into a scythe, he delivered a powerful slice to the Meta's side and severed his arm. He transformed the arm back into a plasma cannon, stepped on the Meta's chest, and aimed it right at his head.

"Nice try, meat. You nearly put me down. But there's a difference between me and you. I'm a god amongst warriors, and you're nothing but an unintelligible meat bag."

He fired.

But the blast never reached the Meta. Realizing there was no other way out of his situation, he had activated his temporal distortion unit, rewinding time until he was no longer in enormous danger, right before Black Beetle had hit his throat. As the battering ram was about to connect, he activated the temporal distortion again, this time to slow down time to a crawl. The Meta calmly stepped out of the way of the battering ram. He picked up his Brute Shot, having been left here when Black Beetle pulled it out of his stomach, and proceeded to launch a grenade right in front of the gap of armor, or what was left of it, he had previously made. He then launched another, this time aimed at his head. Then another. Then another. Before time had been restored to normal, he'd unleashed more than ten grenades, all aimed at various parts of Black Beetle's armor. Unbeknownst to him, thanks to his processing speed, Black Beetle could see his every move. He just couldn't do anything about it.

Once time was restored, every grenade hit Black Beetle, racking his entire body with explosions. He was sent flying as far back as he could go, smashing halfway through the back wall. Meanwhile, the Meta found several bursts of electricity going through his body, indicating he had run out of power. He would not be able to use any more of his enhancements - not that he should need them. Black Beetle slowly crawled back into the room. Enormous portions of his armor were gone, and he was bleeding everywhere. The Meta sauntered up to him, ready to finish him off. But, to Black Beetle's surprise, he didn't strike. Instead, he stopped, and a small, floating, fiery figure appeared in front of him. It spoke.

"You call us 'Meat.' You are close, but ever so wrong. We are the Meta. And we are here to set you free." He vanished and the Meta stepped closer.

Of course, Black Beetle realized. A.I. are controlling him. That's why he can perceive events faster and predict my moves. That's why his mind has electronic implants. Well, I know how to deal with that.

He grinned, and suddenly several wires sprouted from his scarab and snaked their way up the Meta's helmet, plugging themselves into his implants. "Freedom is overrated," he replied, and proceeded to wipe out the A.I.

…

Inside the Meta's mind, there was chaos.

"Theta!" Sigma commanded. "Reroute any possible power you can scrounge up into stabilizing and redirecting this attack. We can take the A.I. now!"

"I'm trying!" Theta replied, clearly in pain from the stress.

Sigma turned. "Delta, I need- Delta?"

The green figure was vibrating, shifting in and out of phase. A moment later, he evaporated, destroyed.

Sigma turned. Everywhere he looked, A.I. fragments were being destroyed.

"It's too much!" Theta shouted. "What do we do?!" As soon as he finished his sentence, he, too, evaporated.

Sigma was alone, and, for the first time in his life, he was afraid.

"I don't know."

Sigma died a few seconds later.

…

The Meta panicked. He no longer knew what to do. He was burned out, confused. What was happening, where was he? Power…he needed power-

Then he felt pain. He looked down to find Black Beetle's scythe arm-deep in his stomach. He was shocked.

"This is where you part ways, meat." Black Beetle smiled, and transformed his hand inside the Meta into a sound cannon. He aimed up, charged a blast, and fired.

The energy built up, then tore out, forcing the Meta's entire body to explode in an enormous gore-fest. He would never move again.

-KO!-

Black Beetle clenched his stomach. "That was…interesting. At the very least, an excellent diversion." He picked up the Meta's helmet and shook out the now-disembodied head, ignoring the blood that poured out.

"Another trophy for another opponent. My collection is getting full."

…

Ah, if only the Meta hadn't lost his head at the last moment. Hah? Get it?

The Meta may have had the skill (and, when enhanced, possibly strength) advantage, and his enhancements would very well keep Black Beetle on his toes, but he just didn't have the equipment necessary to kill Black Beetle. Sure, his grenades can blow up an armored car, but Black Beetle has been hit with building-sized explosions and been completely unaffected. While the Meta's M6G Magnum can shoot through concrete pillars, Black Beetle has taken similar blows and not even moved. The Brute Shot's knife could cut a notch in Black Beetle's armor, and with enough grenades, the Meta could do some damage, but just about anything he can do is quickly nullified by the suit's healing factor. If it can regenerate from being almost completely destroyed in just under a minute, it could certainly repair any damage the Meta can do in much less time. And comparing their strength matches, Superboy has displayed far stronger feats than Tex. Tearing apart that tank like he did would have taken a minimum of 1200 tons of force – around four times more than Tex's crate-throwing feat. True, she did this with a little more ease than Superboy did his tank thing, but even if Meta is slightly stronger than Black Beetle (which is doubtful), the difference in strength certainly can't be enough to make the Meta's victory certain, especially since Black Beetle has taken so many hits from so many sources (including both Superboy and Mongul) without a hint of damage.

True, several of the Meta's enhancements counter Black Beetle's, for instance, his Bioscan counters Black Beetle's holo-imagery, and the Active Camouflage counters his sensors and motion tracker, and, thanks to enhancements like the Overshield, Domed Energy Shield, and Temporal Distortion, he could make sure that Black Beetle was just as incapable of hurting him as he was incapable of hurting Black Beetle, but these enhancements do not last forever. The more powerful ones, especially, run out of power very quickly, and once he's out of power, he has nothing left but his weapons, while Black Beetle still has everything he needs and more to kill the Meta.

The Meta can take very powerful hits and keep going, but that doesn't mean they don't hurt him. Like the time he was shot nine times in the throat. Even though he was able to continue fighting, after the battle, he spent days in a hospital, recovering. Since things just don't go through Black Beetle's armor…ever, and even if they did, he'd have his nanobots to heal him on the fly, he could continue the fight way longer than the Meta could. Not to mention that he's also faster and able to react more quickly than the Meta. The Meta could dodge point-blank gunfire, and was controlled by eight different A.I. fragments. A simple clip from Season 12 of Red vs. Blue shows us the world from the perspective of an A.I. fragment. Using this as assistance, we can determine that the Meta processes the world, at most, around 500x faster than a normal human. Meanwhile, Black Beetle's feat of tagging Impulse and seeing him in slow motion shows that he processes the world more than a thousand times faster than a normal human - close to 1500x faster, in fact. That's three times as fast as the Meta. Black Beetle also had the advantage in experience and weaponry, as each of his weapons could easily match and surpass the Meta's, and he has a lot of them rather than just two. His feats are much more impressive, as well. The Meta was able to keep up with and defeat a maximum of two Freelancers at once, while Black Beetle took out an entire team of superhumans in seconds.

In addition, The Meta had nothing to take advantage of Black Beetle's main weaknesses of magic and certain sound waves, aside from maybe his voice manipulator. However, not only is that really stretching it, but he'd have no way of knowing that this was a weakness of his or what frequency to use it at. Meanwhile, Black Beetle was fully capable of messing with and destroying the Meta's A.I. A simple scan with his sensors would immediately reveal their presence and how they were implanted, and then he could simply use his control over electronics to wipe them out by attaching to those implants, much like he did to Green Beetle. And it's highly unlikely this could backfire, as Agent Maine was working against the A.I., not for them. And that's only if he was working at all, which is doubtful. Plus, though he may have eight of them, they're A.I. fragments, each one consisting of, at the most, a tenth of the power of an A.I. like Alpha. Meanwhile, Black Beetle was easily able to overcome Green Beetle's A.I. and human mind, which is very likely even more advanced than the original Alpha. With his A.I. gone, the Meta stood very little chance in the long run.

In the end, the Meta just didn't have the tools necessary to permanently put Black Beetle down, while Black Beetle had more than enough to handle the Meta.

It sounds like Black Beetle beat the Meta at his own game. His own Metagame.

The winner is Black Beetle.

…

Next time, on Death Battle…

A blue-robed, scaled sorcerer flies around and launches a powerful beam of magic at a man dressed in red.

Vs.

A purple, flying unicorn flies around and launches a powerful blast of magic at a monkey-like creature in red.

(In case you hadn't figured it out, it's Kamek vs. Twilight Sparkle.)