Aiden Pearce vs. Faith Connors is Jackythejack's tenth death battle, pitting Aiden Pearce from the Watchdog games against Faith Connors from the Mirror's Edge Series.
Prelude[]
It's Watchdogs vs. Mirror's Edge in this latest installment of death battle! Vigilantes, computer geniuses, and guardians of their remaining family, which rebel with a cause will outdo the other?
Introduction[]
Wiz: Corporations are prone to shady things, such as making illicit deals, substandard labor conditions, among other things.
Boomstick: And sometimes these corporations just want to watch you and your every move. Big brother is watching, people!
Wiz: Though, not everyone is going to take being profiled by some shady corporation or organization sitting down. There are going to be people who rise up and fight the system, people such as Aiden Pearce, the man who hacked all of Chicago,
Boomstick: And Faith Connors, the Runner on a quest to free her city, and protect her family. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win a death battle.
Aiden Pearce[]
Wiz: Born in Belfast, Ireland, Aiden Pearce had moved to Chicago, Indiana, with his mother and sister in an attempt to escape his father.
Boomstick: While in Chicago, Aiden would get involved in criminal activity and a nasty street gang. You know, as you do when you move to a big city and you're Irish. Irish people love to tussle, after all.
Wiz: During his time in the gang, Aiden not only learned how to defend himself, and use weapons, but he had also met a hacker by the name of Damien Brenks, who would help Aiden hone his hacking skills. They would both teach each other specific skills, and make the best criminal duo Chicago has ever seen.
Boomstick: Though, after a job gone wrong, Aiden broke off ties with Brenks, and eventually his past would come for some karmic retribution.
Wiz: While driving his niece and nephew through the city, a hitman sent to kill him had shot his tires, causing the car to spin out of control and turn completely upside down, which killed his niece in the process.
footage of the car crash. (play for like ten seconds or whenever that car scene ends)
Boomstick: Wow, what a dick.
Wiz: The loss of Aiden's niece would do little to keep him down, however. Instead of hiding in his home, he decided to take the fight to the people who tried to kill him and killed his niece.
Boomstick: Because no one messes with the family of an Irishman!
Wiz: During Aiden's mission, he also gets involved with the CTOS, which keeps the entire city of Chicago under one system.
Boomstick: Basically a shitty version of skynet. Seriously this thing is apparently really easy to hack. You'd think they had something to actually protect them, considering the CTOS is so important.
Wiz: Really, that's just a testament to Aiden's skills as a hacker. Anyways, as he has access to the CTOS, Aiden is capable of hacking into just about everything in the city with the help of a trusty device known as the Profiler.
Boomstick: The profiler can figure out information about anyone it scans, it can hack into bank accounts, traffic lights, transformers, and even road blockers! That is some serious handheld right there!
Wiz: Aiden mostly uses these abilities to either escape pursuers, damage others, hack into security cameras to sneak through areas, or spy on his family without their knowledge.
Boomstick: Wait, what? Uh...that's a bit creepy, don't ya think? Like he could have just installed a security system and call it that.
Wiz: Well, Aiden takes security very seriously, and it's one of the things he cherishes the most, besides his family.
Boomstick: Though enough about that, Wiz! It's time to talk about his sweet weapons, like his baton. Hit 'em with the facts, Wiz!
Wiz: Aiden does, in fact, have a baton that he uses as his one melee weapon. This baton measures at 21 inches, and while Aiden mostly uses it for disarming and silently taking down foes, though Aiden doesn't tend to use it in the middle of combat.
Boomstick: Nope! For that he uses his Spec Ops 1911, which is a standard M1911, normally used by those in special operations, obviously. This bad boy has a silencer on it, making it the only silent gun that Aiden actually has. He can fire this thing out in the open and no one's going to hear it.
Wiz: Now, these weapons may not seem like much, but Aiden is capable of doing a lot of damage with these three objects, the Profiler, baton and 1911, and when the going gets tough, Aiden is not one to run away. Aiden is capable of going into something called Focus Mode, which represents Aidens quick reflexes and shows just how strong his senses are.
Boomstick: Basically, everything around Aiden slows down, allowing him to line up his gun for better shots, or just to hack things easier.
Wiz: With this set of skills, Aiden was able to wipe out almost all crime in the entire city of Chicago, which is no little feat.
Boomstick: Aiden would also get complete access to the CTOS, which basically means he controls the entire city of Chicago. Damn, and he didn't even have to get into politics!
Wiz: though Aiden is an impressive character, he does have flaws. His profiler has limited uses, and if he uses it too much, he has to recharge it. Not only that, but Aiden can struggle in actual combat, considering he's human, and he's mostly focused on stealth.
Boomstick: But it's hard to fight someone who could literally kill you with what's basically a phone. Soldier or not, Aiden is a force to be reckoned with.
I don't look back anymore. I don't regret. I look forward. Everything is connected, and I'll use that to expose, to protect, and if necessary...to punish.
Faith Connors[]
Wiz: In the not so distant at all future, there is a bustling city, run by a government who spies on every citizen in the city. No one cares, and no one dares to talk against this dystopian government.
Boomstick: Except there is one girl who does a lot more than talking. She instead says 'fuck you' sticks out her middle finger and takes the fight right to them.
Wiz: That girl's name, is Faith Connors.
Shows Faith disarming someone before knocking them out.
Wiz: Fighting the corrupted government of the new city, Faith's story started when she was a young girl, where she lived a normal life in a place called Old Town with her mother, father, and her sister.
Boomstick: Though you get the idea by now. Not everything was going to go so great.
Wiz: Faith's father was one of the biggest supporters of Libertas, an organization within the city that supported personal liberties, which involved not being under constant surveillance by the government.
Boomstick: Being the political activists that they were, Faith's parents would take her and her twin sister, Kate, out on political parades to protest the government. This was where Faith's mother died. See? Told ya it wasn't going to end well.
Wiz: The family was left in shambles afterwards. After her mother had died, Faith ran away from home, and later she would run into a man named Mercury, who caught her in the act of stealing his television.
Boomstick: Ha! Talk about first impressions. Bet it was difficult to talk over a cup of coffee after that.
Wiz: After Merc had caught her, he saw potential in the girl, so he personally trained her in his skills of free running through the city, and his martial arts prowess. After months of training, Faith became a runner.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst: Savant
Boomstick: A Runner? So, she just kind of jogs around everywhere? Doesn't seem special to me Wiz. Why's she going up against Aiden? I feel ripped off!
Wiz: Calm down. Now, a Runner is sort of like an illegal courier. They pass messages to one another across the New city, messages that the government doesn't want anyone to get to.
Boomstick: Kind of difficult to navigate a city with a package, right? That's gotta look suspicious.
Wiz: That's where the free-running comes in handy. Runners have keen senses, allowing them to quickly perceive things in their environment to get around the city using the rooftops. They're rarely on the ground, and they jump from rooftop to rooftop to get to their destination.
Boomstick: Oh, so it's like Assassin's Creed stuff, right?
Wiz: In a way, yes, and Faith is just as skilled at free running as anyone in those games. She's able to make seemingly impossible jumps and has amazing upper body strength to pull this off, being forced to pull her body weight up constantly, and usually having to hang onto poles ledges or anything that'd keep her from plummeting to her death.
Boomstick: All of this running and jumping has to get the adrenaline pumping, though, which is why Faith also has her signature Focus Mode. In Focus Mode, Faith uses her Runner senses and adrenaline to basically slow down time for herself, and she's really fast when she's like this!
Wiz: That's an understatement. In this mode, Faith can practically dodge a bullet, which travels at 2,500 feet per second. Though, this burst of adrenaline only lasts so long until she comes off her high.
Boomstick: But by the time she's fallen back down to earth, she's probably disarmed and knocked you out before you even know what happened. Faith is an expert at martial combat, being able to disarm even the best law enforcement officers.
Wiz: That's not where Faith's impressive combat feats stop, however. Not only can she knock out a man with a single knee to the head, even when armored, but she can continuously punch armored individuals with her bare hands and feel nothing.
Boomstick: And to top it all off, she has a two fist punch that can send anyone flying several feet back, no matter what armor they're wearing. Heck, they even fly into the air a little! She packs some punch behind her...punch.
Wiz: Faith is also skilled with all types of guns, being able to snipe moving vehicles, eliminate a whole SWAT team with their own weapons, and knows how to make any gun useless in battle.
Boomstick: It doesn't even matter if you have a gun on you! If you shoot her she doesn't even slow down, and she regenerates soon after. This girl's adrenaline is insane!
Wiz: Speaking of her speed, though, her acceleration from a standstill to a full-on sprint is impressive on its own, being able to go to her top speed in a matter of a few seconds. And she's certainly not slow, she can easily run as fast as any athlete, though she's not going to be breaking any olympic records.
Boomstick: With these set of skills, Faith was able to take down entire hordes of police officers, go toe to toe with former wrestler Ropeburn, and overpower him, and be a general nuisance towards the government of New Town.
Wiz: Though, that's not to say she doesn't have her weaknesses. Faith has never been shown to take much punishment. She can survive several falls, but if it's too high up, she's going to break her legs, and if she takes too many bullets, she's down faster than a grown woman falling off of a rooftop.
Boomstick: But it's hard to hit something that can run straight up to you and disarm you without even breaking a sweat. Faith may not be the most durable hero, but she's definitely one of the best runners the Mirror's Edge has to offer.
Runners see the city in a different way. We see the flow. Rooftops become pathways and conduits, possibilities and routes of escape. The flow is what keeps us running, keeps us alive.
Pre-Battle[]
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: It's time for a death battle!
Death Battle![]
Outskirts of Chicago, 5:00
Faith didn't know why she had to travel so far out from the city to get this job done, but it really couldn't be helped. Their clients weren't necessarily confined to the city, after all, it's just that they normally were. Though Faith wasn't going to complain about getting a job, and besides, so far, this was going fine. She had already secured the package, too. She just had to deliver it, now.
Faith leapt from one rooftop to the other, landing on her feet with enough balance to continue on forward. This city wasn't as easy to traverse as New Town, but she still found a few paths that she could get to with little effort. Most of these bustling cities are way to easy to cross if you're a Runner.
"Faith Connors," a voice had suddenly spoken, just before Faith was about to jump off of the roof. She stopped herself and turned around. What was that? A man stepped out from behind one of the solar panels that were on the roof of the building. He looked like some kind of thug, though why was he up here?
"That is your name, right?" The man asked as he stepped forward. Faith brought the package closer to her body, practically hiding it behind her back.
"Depends on who's asking," she answered in a deadpan tone. "You don't look like anyone I should start a conversation with."
The man let out a dry chuckle before taking another step forward and offering his hand to shake. Faith stared at the offered hand, refusing to take it. After a few moments of silence, he brought his hand down. "Aiden, Aiden Pearce. Maybe you've heard of The Vigilante?"
"Can't say I have," Faith answered as she crossed her arms. "Not from around here. I'm only here for a little business trip."
"Well, you run through the city like you've been here your whole life," Aiden countered with what Faith could only presume was a grin underneath that handkerchief of his. He brought a small phone out of his pocket and looked down at it. Faith saw him press a single button and a picture of her face appeared on the screen.
"Have you been following me?" She asked with a defensive tone, taking a step forward. "What the hell is that?"
"Relax, relax," Aiden took a step back and put the phone in his pocket. "It's a thing I call the profiler. It figures out people's information, hacks stuff, everything someone like me needs. Though, I don't have much on you. It's like you're off the grid."
"Well, that's how I'd prefer to be," Faith muttered before shaking her head. "Look, do you have a point to this, or can I run along now? I got a job to do."
"Actually, that's why I stopped you." Aiden gestured to the bag strapped around Faith's shoulder. "I'm going to need that bag."
"Are you the client?" Faith asked as she looked the man up and down. This could end badly, and she had to prepare. He may even have a gun on him... "Client's eyes only."
"Well, no, I'm not your client, but I'm sure I can put it to much greater use than whoever your client is. Look, there's a USB in that bag, with important information. I need it."
"Client's eyes only," Faith repeated with a more persistent tone. "I'm done talking to you. Goodbye." Faith would then turn around to walk away. Who does this guy think he is? Just demanding the bag from her?
"If you don't give me the bag, I will hunt you down," the man said, but Faith didn't even bother stopping. Aiden frowned and pulled out his profiler to look at what little he had on the woman again. Oh, there's something. "Or, maybe I could pay Kate Connors a visit?"
Faith froze as soon as she heard the name. She took a deep breath and turn around. "Excuse me?"
"I can easily find your sister, Faith, and something bad might happen to her. Neither of us wants that, Faith, trust me. So, how about you hand over the bag and-"
"Don't you even think about touching her!" Faith shouted out before suddenly lunging forward, her hand balled up into a fist as she swung it towards Aiden.
Fight!
Aiden seemed to have anticipated some sort of attack, considering how calmly he had dodged out of the way of Faith's punch. Faith didn't waste time in regaining her balance, however. She barely stumbled forward before pulling herself together and quickly turning around. By the time she had turned, the man had pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at her head. He was going to fire.
Before Aiden could squeeze the trigger, however, Faith hit the underside of his arm, forcing it to angle upward just as Aiden was about to pull the trigger. The bullet went straight up into the sky, not even getting close enough to graze Faith's skin.
"I don't do guns," She muttered before grabbing Aiden's arm and flinging him over her shoulder, mustering all of her strength to go into such an attack. Aiden landed on the ground with a thud and Faith stomped down on the man's stomach just to make sure he was in pain.
"See you later," Faith waved the man goodbye before running towards the edge of the rooftop, leaping off of it and landing on another building before going into a full sprint. That was a lot easier than she thought. Bastard thought he could threaten her sister...
"Merc, what do you have on the area?"
"You're in unknown territory, kid," the voice said through the earpiece she had been taking good care of so far. "I can't help you much out here. I don't know these grounds, but...wait a second..."
"What is it?"
"He's still following you."
"What?" Faith looked over her shoulder to notice that the man was, indeed, chasing after her, hopping over random objects and leaping to the same buildings Faith had. She thought that guy would've given up by now. "Well, guess he's back for seconds."
"Just be careful, kid. I don't know him, he could be more dangerous than you think."
"When am I not careful?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?"
Faith held back a chuckle as she made a sudden, hairpoint turn and began running towards this man, Aiden. She didn't know why he wanted this bag so bad, but it seemed like he wouldn't leave until he gets it, or until he gets pulverized, one of the two.
As Faith ran towards this apparent Vigilante, Aiden would stop his sprint and pull out his 1911 once more and aim it towards the charging woman. She's fast, but not faster than a bullet, and she's running in a straight line? Stupid...
Aiden pulled the trigger, and a silent gunshot assaulted his ears as the bullet moved forward and...completely missed. What? He was aiming right at her. Aiden shot once more, then again, and again. Nothing was hitting her! Aiden unleashed a full magazine in her direction, and none of the bullets seemed to hit their mark.
Faith had made it to Aiden by the time he emptied his gun, just as she had been hoping. She ran right next to him and as soon as she was close enough Aiden had thrown a punch at her. She simply stepped out of the way and, with fluid-like movements, Faith brought her foot up and kicked Aiden right in the side of the head, her speed stopping entirely, but it caused the man to step back, and it knocked his hat off in the process.
"Alright, if that's how you want to do this..." Aiden reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, though he extended the object and eventually had the baton at its full length. Aiden then rushed forward and swung his baton downward.
The blow had actually hit Faith in the arm and she let out a grunt of pain before suddenly running away. Okay, she was getting a bit too confident. She had to run and recover. Luckily there was enough space on this rooftop for her to work her magic. A billboard and a couple of boxes and such lying around, even. Perfect for a Runner.
"I can't keep up with her," Aiden muttered to himself as he pulled his 1911 out once more and quickly loaded a fresh magazine into the firearm. Well, if she wanted to get physical, he can do that too. Though...
Aiden watched Faith on her path around the rooftop, noticing that she was approaching something that could be...very useful. A transformer? Well, he knew what to do with that. A little surprise explosion should certainly shock her.
Suddenly, all time slowed down for Aiden, Faith's full sprint slowing to what was seemingly a walk as she approached the transformer. His senses hone, and his reflexes kicking in, Aiden was able to pull out his profiler and hack into the transformer before Faith could even pass by it. Hacking into the building was simple, all he had to do was press overload.
The transformer suddenly blew up in an explosion of electricity. Time began to flow normally once more just as Faith screamed out in pain and stumbled away from the transformer. What the hell was that?!
"Shocking, isn't it?" Aiden asked with a chuckle as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Faith once more. "Time to say goodbye, Faith."
"Not...now!"
(music stops)
Time slowed down for Faith now, her body running on adrenaline. She looked up just in time to see the Aiden squeeze the trigger of the gun. She stumbled out of the way of the shot before running towards the man once more. She could see the slight surprise on his face as he tried to re-aim and fire again, but he was too slow.
Time continued to slow until the point where Faith was right next to Aiden. By then, things were starting to speed up, but Faith was too quick for Aiden to react, and she threw a punch right to his face.
Aiden had tried to move out of the way of the attack, but Faith hit him right in the nose and he had stumbled back in pain. Faith quickly moved forward and kicked the man in the legs, sweeping them out from under him and knocking him to the ground.
Faith was about to kick the man once more, but Aiden was quick on the draw and pulled his baton out once more. Aiden hit Faith in the leg and Faith’s entire body lowered as one of her legs gave way. Aiden hit Faith in the other leg and she also fell to the ground, but Aiden was determined to try and get up.
“Oh no you don’t,” Faith muttered before clamboring to her knees and tackling the Vigilante once more. The hacker of Chicago would fall down with a grunt, but attempt to throw a punch towards Faith. It hit her in the shoulder once more and she winced in pain before stumbling off of the hacker and stepping away from him.
“Gotta admit, you’re good,” Aiden muttered as he stood up and brandished his extended baton once more. “But you’re not good enough.”
“We’ll see about that.” Faith then ran forward once more and threw a punch towards Aiden. Aiden moved out of the way and hit Faith in the arm once again. Faith winced in pain and turned around to face her attacker. Just in time for another swing, as well. Faith caught the baton in midair and held it tight in her hand. Aiden tried to pull it back, but Faith kept a tight grip on it.
“Let go, dammit,” Aiden muttered, but then Faith suddenly began pushing against Aiden. Aiden had let go of the baton in an attempt to get away, but all it did was give Faith a weapon, and he used this to her advantage as she brought it back and slammed it against Aiden’s head.
Aiden stumbled back at this and put a hand to his head. HIs vision became blurry as he tried to stabilize himself from the blow, but soon afterward he would be kicked in the stomach, continuously pushing him backwards. The assault on him would continue on, with Faith using his own cane against him in hitting him in the head, arms, stomach, and even kicking him multiple times.
There was nothing he could do when he was pushed back far enough where the ground had disappeared under his feet. He fell backwards, off the roof of the building before landing into an open dumpster, which cushioned his fall. Faith wasn't sure if he survived that, and frankly she didn't care. A man like that deserves what he gets, especially after threatening his sister.
“Package secured, Merc,” Faith muttered into her earpiece before leaping to the other rooftop. Wouldn’t want to meet the same fate as that guy down there. “Hostile is eliminated, too.”
“Figured as much. Good job, Faith. Now get that bag delivered and come back.”
KO!
The final panel shows Faith running along the rooftops while people crowd around Aiden's body.
Results[]
Boomstick: Well, that was a bit anticlimactic.
Wiz: However, this was actually a closer fight than you think. While Faith lacked the killing potential that Aiden had with his gun, she was clearly fast enough, and much, much harder to hit.
Boomstick: Yeah, on top of her bullet time mode, Faith also has something called a Speed Shield or whatever, where bullets just don't hit her, and punches just roll off her body. She basically becomes invincible when she hits her top speed.
Wiz: And considering she hits her top speed so quickly, with her acceleration being more than impressive and quick than anything that Faith has to offer. Aiden's only chance of really hitting her was to use his baton, and even then that wouldn't work.
Boomstick: Yeah, remember how Faith had overpowered an ex-wrestler, whose former job was to overpower other people and pin them down? Yeah, he tried to hit Faith with a similar weapon, but instead it was a dense lead pipe, and Faith just grabbed it like it was nothing.
Wiz: And that was after she was flung from one rooftop onto a slightly lower one.
Boomstick: And even if Aiden could use his gun, Faith could just disarm it in a second as soon as she got close, which she could easily do so with her bullet time. She's use to fighting people with guns, and she can disarm all of them with little challenge.
Wiz: And on top of all of that, Aiden was just not in the right territory. If he was down on the streets of Chicago, he'd be able to hack many more things, but on the rooftops, there wasn't much that he could use for his advantage, while Faith's runner vision helps her see anything and everything that could be used to her advantage, including the perfect time when to disarm someone.
Boomstick: And although this battle started on the rooftops, if it did start on the streets, Faith would quickly take it to the rooftops, where she's at her peak in versatility, and Aiden just can't compete with all of the skills Faith has. I guess you could just say Aiden was just bound to fall.
Wiz: The winner is Faith Connors.