Saxton Hale
Backstory:
Saxton Hale is a daring Australian, President, and CEO of Mann Co., and the star of many comics' series. He is considered the fourth-richest man in America. He was the sixth-richest man in America, but surpassed the fifth by wealth and the fourth by killing him in a harpoon duel. His favorite pastimes include fighting, drinking, and battling with ferocious animals.
In fact, most kids sleep with a teddy bear at night, but Saxton Hale sleeps with an actual bear that he tamed while in the Brazilian Jungles. His identifying features include a mustache, rippling muscles, a crocodile-tooth lined hat, and a patch of rotating chest hair shaped like Australia. He also refuses to wear clothes on his upper body, "for obvious reasons".
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
4th Wall Awareness,
Martial Arts (grappling and boxing),
some degree of Toon Force,
Psuedo Flight (With Brave Jump and Sweeping Charge),
Shockwave Manipulation (With Mighty Slam),
Explosion Manipulation (With Saxton Punch, which causes a massive explosion to burst out from his left fist),
Limited Power Nullification (Can remove status debuffs with his Sweeping Charge),
Technology Busting and Status Effect Inducement via the Jarate,
Possibly Resistance to Fear Manipulation (Should have abilities similar to The Saxton Hale Mask)
Weaknesses: Extremely overconfident in his abilities, likely due to being completely unrivaled in the TF-verse. He is also not willing to hurt children, but he is willing to pay others to do it for him. Saxton Punch, Sweeping Charge, and Mighty Slam are on a 30 second timer...
Kano
Backstory:
As a mercenary and leader of the international crime cartel known as the Black Dragon, Kano rises beyond mere brutality and aggression by also being sly and cunning. Originally from Australia, Kano is highly opportunistic and incredibly selfish, willing to betray his own realm and even his own allies for money or personal gain. As a result, he quickly became part of Shao Kahn's inner circle, and eventually the general of Outworld's armies (in the original timeline).
One of his more notable features is his facetious and twisted sense of humor, almost always making light of dire circumstances. His vulgarity is an additional outlier among other characters, most evident by his penchant for callously spitting, drinking and urinating wherever he pleases. His assortment of dirty fighting tactics also compliments his unpleasant personality.
He combines features of a cowardly minion, a lone survivor, a crazed madman, and a ruthless commander. He is despised by the majority of other characters in the series for his selfish, untrustworthy nature, complete lack of morals, and overall crudeness. However, he seems to enjoy the fact that he is hated, even viewing it as a source of pride. He is the archenemy of Sonya Blade, who is obsessed with finding and bringing Kano to justice.
A portion of Kano's face is covered with a metal plate, the result of a disfiguring injury he sustained at the hands of Jax prior to the events of the series, with the plated eye being a glowing red orb capable of emitting laser beams.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Martial Arts (Skilled brawler who uses a mix of pro wrestling techniques, knife fighting techniques, and mixed martial arts that are done with a lack of finesse),
Weapon Mastery (Primarily wields knives, but also uses modern weaponry like firearms and explosives),
Stealth Mastery (Sneaked into the SF's Refugee Kamp with the help of an identity stealing disguise tech),
Acrobatics,
Cyborgization (Partial. Has an ocular implant that can shoot lasers that cut through metal, give him access to x-ray vision, scan through cybernetic material and gain information on their status, etc.)
Explosion Manipulation (Via frag grenades),
Fire Manipulation (Via molotov cocktails),
Poison Manipulation (Via corrosive gas grenades and vials of flammable, toxic chemicals)
Weaknesses: None noticeable
Song: Aussie-ome Menn
Pre-fight:
Saxton Hale, CEO of Mann Co., was sitting in his office at the company headquarters, looking utterly bored and unmotivated to do any work related to his company. He clearly preferred hunting exotic animals with his bare hands, and he was currently forced to deal with work matters instead, which was proving to be quite a drag. Oh how much he'd be preferring to be cutting down gorillas, making sharks cry, or punching yetis so hard that they'd explode, if he hadn't already made them extinct with his Yeti Park idea.
The office doors were suddenly kicked open and Kano, leader of the Black Dragon, came marching into the room while drinking from an alcoholic bottle before throwing it on the floor, allowing the thing to shatter upon impact. Saxton Hale's eyes were immediately drawn to the man and their gaze quickly locked on each other, and it appears that the CEO was intrigued by the unexpected intrusion, hopefully a challenge.
"For a CEO running your kind operation, ya sure run things as shit. Always having red and blue mercenaries fightin' each other? I'm surprised your company hasn't gone down the dunny under your control." Kano mocked his fellow Australian on how he runs things.
Saxton's eyes narrowed as he heard this man with an accent mock and criticize how he ran the company, and it didn't seem to sit well with him at all. Not to mention, his fellow Australian also insulted the entire company he ran in the process.
"Now hold on right there, mate. This company is like the top of the crop when it comes to quality. So don't ya come in here thinking you know anything about how I run things, ya hear?"
"Don't be a drongo, mate. I'm also a fellow man who deals with arms and weapons." Kano said, taking out a dagger to simply hold it. "I'm just 'ear to take you up on your company offer. That anyone can become CEO of your company if the bloke beats ya in a fight, right?"
Saxton had been quick to defend his company and how he ran it, but he knew that the man was right about one thing. That anybody capable enough could become the CEO if they were able to defeat him in a fight. So yeah, now the man wanted to settle the matter through combat.
"Ah right, yeah that is true. Anyone that can beat me in a fight gets a spot as CEO. So, mate, ya want to take me up on this offer then?"
"I'm deadset. Get ready for a guttin', Hale." Kano chuckled, rolling his head around to pop the joints in his neck.
Saxton's competitive spirit was quickly ignited after hearing what the man had to say. Being the CEO meant a lot to him, and he couldn't just let anyone take it so easily simply by defeating him in combat. And this man seemed like he was definitely serious about fighting for it, which made it much more intriguing.
"Well bring it on then, mate. I'm all set to rumble right about now."
Kano got the fight started by throwing the dagger he was holding at Saxton, who managed to block it with his desk. However, the CEO wasn't about to back off and instead chose to counterattack by throwing the entire desk at him.
The fight escalated quickly as Kano managed to slice up the desk with his eye-laser, before pushing the two halves away. Although the move was effective, the man was unaware that the desk itself was a distraction and was caught off guard when Saxton was now charging full-force towards him. The CEO grabbed at his head with full intent to show the leader of the Black Dragon who he was messing with.
Kano grunted as the CEO grabbed him by his head and smashed him through a wall, sending the pair falling towards the grounds below. The wall had a perfect cut-out of Australia in it, which was a nice touch. But regardless, these two were now flying towards the ground at full speed.
"Is that all you got?"
Kano had to quickly take advantage of the situation to save himself with some quick thinking. And he did. First, he used his biotic eye to spot the perfect opening between Saxton's fingers and then fired another laser into his eyes, instantly blinding him with pain. The CEO was left wincing from the sudden flash of pain, which allowed the leader of the Black Dragon to force himself out of the grip. They were now facing their respective directions with Kano on top, and Saxton was about to hit the ground.
Saxton hit the ground hard, and the crater formed by the impact was deep enough to pick up dust and debris that now began to obscure the fight. A brief second passed before a mighty punch was heard, and Kano was sent flying and was knocked into a wooden building so hard that there was an audible crack from the woodwork, along with his grunt of pain.
Saxton got up after the powerful hit, and he seemed far more bothered by being blinded than the hard impact he sustained. He then commented on the sudden dirty playing, saying that it was fine by him.
"So we're fighting dirty, eh? Fine by me. I've flipped over Kodiak Bears with suplexes more dangerous than ya, mate."
He boasted about having flipped over Kodiak bears with suplexes and how that was even more dangerous than what the Black Dragon leader had delivered, trying to intimidate him. Kano scoffed, shaking his head with a bemused smile.
"If animals and mercenaries are all you've fought, then ya better piss off while you can, Hale."
Kano's words were enough to get under Saxton's skin a bit, as the CEO didn't appreciate being mocked for his experience. He had fought all manner of creatures and rivals, but this man was dismissing it as if it meant nothing.
"Watch who you're making fun of. I'm not just a man. I'm a weapon! Saxton Hale!"
He responded by rushing in with a punch of his own, which Kano quickly saw coming and managed to dodge. This allowed the CEO to smash right through the wall, and the impact of the strike created...you guessed it, another perfect cut-out of Australia.
Saxton made a quick return by jumping out of the building through a skylight, and after he got himself on the roof, he proceeded to go for the elbow drop. Kano's attempt to dodge resulted in him at least being pushed away from the impact, but he still managed to avoid being struck by the force of the attack. The ground had now been damaged from the hit, and some debris had fallen to the ground as the battle continued.After taking a small tumble and then getting on his feet, Kano shook his head again.
"Crickey, this bloke's mad as a cut snake." Kano said to himself quietly at how reckless, yet powerful Hale was acting. The CEO was powerful indeed, but he wasn't taking this fight very methodically and calmly compared to the assassin. He was acting more like a wild animal, which made him quite unpredictable and hard to counter.
"Attack!"
Saxton's attempt to dive in with his punch had been avoided once more. But while Kano had managed to dodge the attack, he couldn't just sit around as the man kept attacking, so he went with a counterattack.
The Black Dragon leader went for a right hook to Hale's face, left uppercut to the chin, and a right kick to his rival's chest. While the CEO took the strikes in stride, the attacks were actually doing superficial damage, unlike nothing at all in most cases. The CEO stood up, standing his ground and continuing to take the hits head on, with each blow exchanged having its effectiveness lessened until Kano's hits were like punching a brick wall of meat.
Kano was forced to gaze up towards the taller figure of Saxton as he was lifted off the ground by the neck and struggling, and he was understandably intimidated by the man's sheer size and strength.
"Nice try, mate. My turn." The CEO proceeded to launch a few quick headbutts against the man, and the strikes had damaged him a bit. The man then let go of him, and sent one last headbutt, leaving Kano to be pushed away onto the ground.
Kano groaned as he held his head, which was now bleeding from the forehead. Some of the metal plating of the man's skull was even dented, and the damage that Saxton had inflicted upon him seemed to be adding up. Despite taking the hits so well, it was clear that the damage and fatigue was starting to take its toll on the leader of the Black Dragon.
"Alright, no more Mr. Nice Guy." Kano got back on his feet, seemingly determined to keep going. He put his fists up, making it clear that he was now done with messing around and would start fighting at his absolute best moving forward.
Kano went first with his right fist, but Saxton caught it and then continued to hold it firmly. The man then threw a left elbow to continue his attack, which was also caught. But the Black Dragon had a trick up his sleeve, and when the blade of his elbow extended, it pierced through the CEO's hand. The man was taken aback by the sudden attack, and he winced sharply.
Saxton decided to retaliate and didn't let the elbow-blade attack go unanswered. He held on tight to the man's piercing elbow, and the CEO dragged Kano along with him as he smashed through the building entirely. The cyborg cried out as he was being thrown around and tossed through woodwork, windows, and everything else as he was essentially being plowed through the building like a fast farm plow through a field. The damage was being done to the wooden structure, but the man was suffering more than the actual building was.
"Properrrry damaaaage!"
The two crashed out of the building, sending debris flying from the impact as they landed into a red sandstone wall. Saxton had clearly used some extreme force to slam the man into it, causing the wall to crack. Once the CEO had his opponent in his grasp, he proceeded to flex his muscles, resulting in the breaking of the blade and the removal of the blade from his hand. The wall was cracked, but Kano was the one that was truly suffering from the damage, covered in splinters and cuts. Saxton smiled again as he stooped down to look down closer at the downed Kano.
"You're certainly a tricky one, mate. I haven't been hurt like this in quite some time. But like everything else, your bark is worse than your bite." The CEO was definitely showing that he was enjoying this particular battle, as he had certainly been challenged in ways he wasn't used to. Saxton smiled, and he then looked down at the downed man. Although he was hurt, Saxton still seemed confident in his victory, saying that despite being hurt, he didn't think his opponent could not actually back up what he claimed. Kano didn't reply, however. When Kano didn't reply, he asked,
"Hey, don't tell me you're out already, are ya?" Saxton was surprised to find that the man didn't respond, and he thought that he had actually won the battle that quickly. He went to pick him up, but the Black Dragon had other plans. He flashed a bright red light from his eye, blinding the CEO temporarily with a grunt, after which the man was able to stab him with a butterfly knife in his right thigh.
Saxton was in an even worse state after the stab in the second thigh and the kick to the nose. The man had his nose bleeding, and it was now broken as well. But it seemed like he wasn't willing to give up even after these injuries, as he proceeded to pull the knives out of his legs. He then bent the blades like spoon heads, which effectively snapped them off from the hilts. The man was clearly trying his best to resist the pain and maintain his stance, but this didn't mean that he was completely fine.
"That's it! I'm going to beat the hell out of ya!" Saxton was certainly starting to lose his cool and the fight was getting to his head. In fact, he had become far more aggressive in his fighting moves as he attempted to punch the man, but Kano had managed to dodge it. While the man smiled, thinking that he had made his rival become sloppy, Saxton was growing increasingly frustrated with the fight as it continued.
"Here, have a hot coldie." Kano was beginning to get cocky, and in order to keep up the mockery, he had taken out a molotov cocktail, lit the cloth on fire, and threw it right in the CEO's face as it crashed. The molotov cocktail exploded into fire and shattered glass, instantly blinding the man and causing the damage dealt to him to become even worse. It seemed like the Black Dragon was not giving him any room for breathing time at all, keeping up the pressure with one attack after the other.
Saxton continued to yell and curse from the molotov burning his face and piercing his skin, making him even more irritated and enraged. The anger gave Kano the opening he needed as he managed to outwit the man and run around him. He then jumped onto the CEO's back, holding on firmly and not allowing him any chance to shake him off.
Kano had pulled out the serrated blade and stabbed into the CEO's chest with it, slicing it diagonally in a vicious manner. The man's muscular frame was tough enough to hold the impact against his ribs, but the knife ended up causing a deep, bleeding cut across his chest. The wound cut across the man's chiseled pecs, showing that the damage was serious.
Kano was now standing over the CEO, with his knife held high into the air. The Black Dragon leader was prepared to deal the final blow against Saxton, and with his weapon held up like that, he uttered a cocky and witty one-liner.
"Light's out, sunshine."
Despite Kano's preparation to finally make the kill, Saxton managed to use his raw strength and the leverage of the situation to overpower him. He reached out from behind and managed to get his hands on Kano's body before he could deliver the final blow. The CEO proceeded to pull the Black Dragon off of his shoulders, and managed to slam him onto his back against the ground.
Kano yelled in pain, as his back was broken from the impact. He tried to shoot up at the CEO, but with a stomp of his boot, Saxton crushed the Black Dragon's biotic eye, while somewhat crushing his skull.
"I've had enough of ya." Saxton seemed to have reached his breaking point as he had had enough of his opponent's attacks and the damage they had inflicted upon him. The CEO was now enraged, and he showed that by making the final effort to put his rival down for good. He threw Kano up into the air and sent him flying all the way up, with the man now at least dozens of feet in the air.
As Kano was coming back down from his fall, the CEO took his chance at the perfect moment. He jumped up at the right time, and with a scream and mighty strike, he landed a devastating punch to the Black Dragon.
"Saxton Hale!" The hit was so strong that Kano literally exploded into bloody chunks from the force alone, and now his limbs and blood rained down everywhere around him. Saxton then landed back to the ground in a three point position, breathing heavily after such a difficult and intense fight.
Saxton let out a groan, clearly still exhausted and wounded despite having emerged as the victor of the fight. The man's wounds weren't as bad as Kano's, but he was definitely in need of medical attention. After all, it had been years since he had suffered actual injury of this caliber.
"Ugh. I never thought I'd say this, but I need to see that Medic goon."
He stumbled his way towards the place where he could get help for his injuries, while the scene around him was a very gruesome display of Kano's remains.
Strength: Now, interestingly, both combatants had the physical strength to put each other down in one strike if they had the opportunity. Kano can chop through a titanium statue, which would require 64,000 psi to break. But Saxton boasts similar strength, since being able to punch through someone would require 45,000 psi. And given he can not only punch people hard enough that they explode, but even do that to yetis, Saxton is likely much stronger, so they're somewhat even in brute strength.
Speed: However, Hale would need to be able to strike Kano, which would be difficult to do half the time. Kano can react to Mach 3 speeds, while Saxton has never personally performed that fast, even if the people he fights and dominates are also fast enough to dodge gun and rocket fire.
Skill: This one is also interesting. Kano's dirty fighting would certainly keep putting Saxton's relatively simple grappling and boxing skills on the back foot. However, while Kano is no slouch in armed and unarmed combat, he regularly loses to fighters that are of his level. Saxton meanwhile is a big fish in his small pond, capable of fighting groups of people all at once, and coming out the winner. His only confirmed loss was due to a loophole in his company contract, refusing to fight a kid.
Experience: However, while Saxton has the superior skills as a fighter, Kano has faced a much wider variety than mercenaries and animals. Special Forces, ninjas and demigods, the only thing that Hale is bringing to the table is unusually high durability.
Powers: While Kano has the more varied arsenal in knives, explosives and tricks, none of it matters if he can't overcome Saxton Hale's aforementioned durability. The CEO can fall from any height, and not become damaged from it. Falling at terminal velocity and hitting the ground can put forces at least 600x your mass against your body. Assuming Saxton Hale is a respectable 250 lbs., this would mean he can withstand 75 tons of force with no issue. That's over twice as durable as Kano's titanium chopping feat, even if it would require Saxton being unable to defend himself for that chop to get through. Which is very unlikely.
The winner is Saxton Hale.
Next time:
"Applause, then. A round of applause in celebration of my supreme power."
"I shall consume them all."