1 Chapter 1- Divided We Fall

July 15, 2023

The snapping of a woman's fingers brought him back to his senses, his eyes opening and closing a few times as he tried to remember where he was. He took a quick look around and spotted groups of people sitting around and drinking coffee from clear mugs, their eyes starting to wander towards him as he looked around frantically. It all came back to him like a flood of fragmented memories, he was at the La Vavida Cafe off of Maiden Lane. He got here from a cab with his girlfriend, Logan, who was still slightly frustrated with him for sleeping in past 12:00. Finally, his name....it was Mark, Mark Lund. "Daydreaming again?" Logan asked, her eyebrow raised and her delicate finger slowly tapping the rim of her coffee mug. Mark forced himself to smirk, a small chuckle escaping his slightly parted lips. "Yeah...sorry. What were you talking about again?" Logan's pupils dilated for a moment; something that usually happened whenever she was even the slightest bit annoyed. "The grand opening of Bourgeoisie Fashion Co., the company you helped me make?" Mark breathed a sigh of relief, at least it wasn't anything that important. He looked through the window at his side for a moment; the sun was out and the streets were surprisingly empty for it being such a nice day, it was almost like a painting. A man cycled past the store in his bike, his fanny pack swinging wildly from side to side as he did. But somehow, Mark still felt a pit in his stomach, like something bad was on the horizon. His sense of danger was near-impeccable, there were very few times when he was wrong about a dangerous situation. "Oh yeah...yeah I remember." He frantically reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, placing multiple ten dollar bills on the table. "Let's get out of here, we can talk about it back home, okay?" He failed to hide his anxiety, Logan slowly put her hand on his with a worried look on her face. "Hey...what's wrong? You've been acting crazy the whole day." Mark looked up to Logan, their eyes connecting. "Listen, I just have a bad feeling, it's probably crazy bu-" Before He could finish his sentence, the building shook and mugs full of hot coffee shattering on the floor. Customers dropped under the tables for cover, Logan following suit, but Mark simply sat there with his eyes narrowed. As he looked on through the window, a man with two drills on his hand emerged from the street. His eyes were obscured by large goggles and his head was covered by an oversized construction hat. He had a large smile on his face, it was more goofy than terrifying. Mark slowly stood up and placed his wallet on the table; walking out of the cafe and onto the streets. As he approached the man with drills for hands, he turned to face Mark and screamed, "Don't come an inch closer weak one, or face the wrath of CHASM!" Mark couldn't help but chuckle a bit, the man obviously had an inflated ego. An arm was placed behind his back, his fingers rubbing together as sparks flew out of them. Chasm was visibly enraged, slowly walking towards Mark. "You DARE laugh at CHASM!? Allows me to wipe that smile off of your filthy face!" The ground rumbled as Chasm jumped towards Mark, flinging his drills wildly in Marks' direction. As Chasm neared Mark, he removed his arm from his back and made a flicking motion in Chasms' direction. Lightning bolts rocketed from his fingers and collided with the two drills, the drills instantly exploding as they struck. Chasm let out a pain scream as he flew back and slammed into a city bus, knocking him out cold. Mark stood there for a moment and admired his work; he had missed being a superhero after all. But his feeling of pride was soon washed away by the feeling of a warm substance dripping from his nose. His hands lightly grazed the liquid as he held it to his eyes, it's scarlet color glistening in the sunlight. "Blood...shit..." Mark stumbled backwards, but managed to keep himself upright; the world around him was spinning. A myriad of screams and sirens filled his ears as he fell to his knees and clutched his ears. Before his vision faded to black; he saw Logan running towards him, her jet black hair blowing wildly in the wind. "L...Loga...."

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March 20, 2017

Mark stood at the top of the last standing skyscraper, looking desperately for his comrades through the smoke and fire. It was dark now; they had been fighting this...thing for hours now, and Las Vegas was in ruins now. Hornet and ReBound had been killed with little effort, and now he was split up from his group. "Supers, Respond! This is Xstatic, I've been separated from Team 3, I'm stranded on the Bellagio...requesting immediate assistance." He waited a few seconds for a response...but nothing. They couldn't all be dead, right? "Finally, the black sheep has wandered so far from his family." The voice sent chills through Marks' spine, he felt the air around him almost freeze as the footsteps behind him grew louder. "I have to say, they gave one hell of a fight, but it all ended too fast. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun." Mark slowly turned to see the figure standing in front of him, the darkness conveniently covered most of its features from his view. Electricity started to surround Marks' fists as he braced for a battle. He knew that this would break him down physically and mentally, possibly kill him. Whatever this thing was...it was stronger than any being he had ever encountered. "Electricity, how cute. Let's settle this, shall we?" Mark watched in silent terror as what appeared to be its arm morphed into a blade, accompanied by a myriad of bones cracking and flesh squishing together. This was it....judgement day.

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July 16, 2023

Mark woke up in a hospital, the cacophony Of beeping sounds instantly becoming clear to him. He dreamed about that horrid day again, the day that left him an infinite number of scars. There was not a night that passed where that scene did not play in his mind, almost like a broken record player. Now the slightest overuse of his abilities would cause him to "blackout". His eyes focused on the TV in the room, a news report about the previous encounter playing. Someone had recorded it with their phone and uploaded it on Worldstar....figures. Luckily, they didn't seem to realize that he was Xstatic, that was all the good that came out of that situation. The door opened as a man in a green lab coat entered the room, looking down at Mark with an annoyed glare. "I see you're feeling better Mr Lund." Mark only nodded, his throat still felt a bit scratchy. "Well it appears that the plasma levels in your blood dropped to a critically low state, no doubt due to the powers you used on that villain." He already knew that, it was how his powers worked. He used the plasma in his blood and mixed it with the static on his skin in order to shoot "lightning" from his body. Before the incident he was able to use his powers for hours without consequence, oh how he missed those days. "You should be able to leave the hospital in a few hours, but you will be fined for using your powers without being contracted and for the damages you caused." The doctor picked up a clipboard from the nightstand and left the room, he seemed to be very busy. Mark rubbed his eyes and shakily stood on his feet; the thought of paying more fines a bane on his mind. But as he reached for the glass of water on the nightstand, he heard the TV turn to static. He slowly turned to the TV, through the static he could make out a message. "Empire State Building, 12 AM." There was only one person who would be able to transmit a message like that, and if they were trying to contact him, something was clearly wrong.