The Absorbing Man's face contorted into a mask of shock as Ares began his assault... again and again he found himself slammed into ground and various other objects by the god who's strength rivaled that of the rampaging Hulk.  Again and again he was slammed into things and cars, post boxes and lamp posts flew every which way as terrified mortals fled, and though he was injured somewhat, the man's resilience was quite impressive.  Numerous dents riddled his body and as the steel form of Colossus stepped to the fray to grasp Creel's flesh, which had the consistency of a bank vault door, she found her fingers digging in to the slightly softer material.  Until that point Creel seemed to have been dazed, but as Caroline slammed him into the ground, the pavement gave way, creating a small crater in the sidewalk.  Creel's eyes had been closed and for a brief moment it seemed as though he was down for the count.  Then his eyes snapped open and he grinned at her, large hands closing around the organic steel arm of the metallic Avenger.  The dull metal veneer of the Absorbing Man's body changed to a banded gleaming steel color as he took on the more powerful properties of Colossus' metal form.  With newfound strength, he applied some wicked leverage and literally threw Caroline at Ares.  Having dropped his wrecking ball and chain, he made it to his feet and laughed.  The new absorption had healed the dents in his body from before, it seemed.<br/><br/><strong>"Har! Har! Har!  I'm the Absorbing Man... that means I can absorb -anything-!  I'm gonna enjoy wiping the floor with you schmucks."</strong><br/><br/>He pointed at Ares and then Colossus.<br/><br/><strong>"I'm gonna knock your head so far between your shoulders that you'll have to unzip your pants to eat... and I'm gonna send -you- to the recycling yard!"</strong><br/><br/>Creel didn't mention how unnerved by the sheer ferocity of the so-called god of war he had been... but now he felt a bit more confident.<br/><br/>Despite Captain America's superior fighting skill, he just couldn't seem to get a proper bead on Speed Demon.  It was as though the villain perceived everything around him as moving in slow motion.  He dodged every attack that came his way like Steve was stuck in molasses.<br/><strong><br/>"Hahahaha!  I knew it!  I'm too fast for you!  I'm not even moving as fast as I- Whoa!"</strong><br/><br/>Ms Marvel's energy blast came out of nowhere to Speed Demon... he skidded to a halt just in time to avoid being hit by the beam of concentrated plasma, which hit the pavement, shattering and melting it on contact, leaving a wide smoking crater in the street.  Unfortunately for the villain, that was all the opening that Cap needed, and he found himself grappled tightly by the super soldier.  His legs kicked furiously like a humorous caricature of an old cartoon character, but he could not even touch the ground so long as he was held.<br/><br/><strong>"Hey!  No fair!  Let me go, you muscle-bound fool!"</strong>