4 Chapter 1- Scorched Earth

July 15, 2023

Brooklyn, New York

"You what?!" It was the reaction Mark would've expected from a girl like Logan. She already didn't approve of him using his powers to stop Chasm, so there was no way she would approve of him becoming a superhero again. "Logan, it isn't as serious as you're making it out to be." He placed his hand on hers, but she quickly recoiled from his touch. "Not a big deal?! The last time you said that I watched you die in my arms!" Her voice cracked, Mark knew that he really fucked up now. They both had PTSD after the Battle for Las Vegas, but she took it much harder than he did. "It won't be like that again, this is different. The only villains left are ones like Chasm." He put his hand on her shoulder, this time she didn't move away. Tears fell from her eyes, but her face was red with anger. "And look how that battle turned out. Face it, Mark, you're not nearly as strong as you were before Las Vegas. You can barely use your powers for five minutes without deteriorating!" Mark's signature cocky grin formed on his face. "You know me, I can get creative." Instead of a laugh, all he received was a slap to the face. It didn't hurt him at all, but the shock was enough to cause him to fall back. "You never take anything seriously! Everything is just a big joke to you!" Logan exclaimed as she ran around the apartment and collected her things. Mark was silent, still in awe at the fact that she struck him. Logan may have been a bit of a hot head, but she had never turned to violence. "I'm not gonna just stand by and watch you die again, and I definitely won't let my heart shatter a second time." Mark slowly stood up, his face fraught with worry and confusion. "What are you saying?" She opened the door and paused for a moment, looking back at Mark as she spoke. "We're done. Have a nice life, Mark." With that, Logan walked out of the apartment and shut the door closed behind herself. Mark didn't follow, instead, he just slumped back into his sofa. "Great job, Mark..." He muttered to himself, hanging his head in defeat. Logan was a lot of things: a little materialistic, sometimes too self-absorbed, and too often came across as aggressive. But somehow he was able to see past all of that and find someone that he genuinely...had feelings for. And now he threw that all away to join a team of misfit superheroes, his life truly couldn't be going any better. Just as he was about to get a bottle of liquor from the fridge, there was a light knock on the door. He walked over to the door and opened it, slightly hoping that it was Logan. But instead he found Jen, her face as expressionless as it usually was. "How do you know where I live?" He couldn't muster a witty comment, his tone reflected how defeated he felt. "I kept tabs on all former league members." Without asking, Jen walked into the apartment and looked around. The room was much more tidy than she expected from someone like Mark. "There was a woman here." Jen didn't phrase it as a question, rather a statement. "Could you stop scanning my apartment? You're going to find some things you don't want to see." Jen bent down and picked up a bra with her index finger. "I didn't need a scanner to find this this." Mark's face flushed red for a moment, Logan must've forgotten that on her way out. He quickly snatched the cloth from her and threw it behind the sofa. "Why did you even come over here?" Mark was already regretting joining "Supers United", what a stupid name. "There was an explosion in the Bronx, it blew up an entire city block." "And? It could've been a gas explosion, maybe even a cooking accident." Jen frowned, it wasn't like Mark to just dismiss odd occurrences off as accidents. "Witnesses who survived reported seeing a 13 foot beast exiting the scene. So with digital recreation software and witness testimony, I was able to make a rough model of what the thing would look like." She held out her robotic hand, a small hologram placed on her palm. The thing was insanely bulky, with magma and flames leaking out of the myriad of cracks in its skin. It's teeth were razor sharp, and horns were crudely places on the side of its head. It was hard not to be intimidated by the thing, even if the hologram was barely 2 feet tall. "Where are the others? Do they know about this?" Jen turned the hologram off and put it back into her left pocket. "I briefed them on the way here. MidKnight is at the scene of the crime, and Shu is trying to track its scent." Mark ran a hand through his white hair, trying to think of the best way to approach the situation. "So you sent Shu, alone, to find this thing? She may be strong but she isn't strong enough to hold her own against that thing." "But, she is fast enough to run away from it if she has to." Mark stayed silent for a moment; in reality he wasn't scared for Shu. She was short, but she made up for it in speed and strength. Mark once witnessed her lift an entire city bus over her head and throw it at a group of mutated mud people. He was more scared for himself; DarkClaw had left his powers destroyed. The slightest overuse of the plasma in his blood would send him to the hospital, and now he had to fight a 13 foot beast without dying. As he was about to speak again, the sound of a radio turning on filled the room. The voice that came from the radio was soft and feminine, it had to belong to Shu. "Jen! I found it!" The sound of screaming and car sirens beeping almost drowned her voice out. "It's in Central Park! And it's really angry." She sounded terrified, a pit starting to form in Mark's stomach. "We're on our way Shu, hang tight." Jen put the radio back into the back pocket of her jeans, looking to Mark with her face still devoid of emotion. "Welcome back, XStatic." Jen turned to a window in the living room and threw a chair at it; the glass instantly breaking. Before Mark could scold Jen for breaking his window, she jumped out of the window and shot a grappling hook out of her arm. Jen used the grappling hook to swing to Central Park, it reminded Mark of a superhero he read about in a comic once. "Show off." Mark muttered, touching the refrigerator and dematerializing into electricity.

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Central Park, Manhattan

Shu stood in front of the towering beast, it was much more terrifying than any hologram could've portrayed. The thing was leaking magma our of the cracks in it's grey skin, and it's breath formed clouds of smoke in front of it. With a huff, the beast ripped a tree out of the ground and ripped the branches off with a single motion. The thing threw the tree at Shu, but she quickly jumped out of the way. As the tree collided with the ground next to her it exploded into chunks of superheated wood. She yelped in pain as the chunks of wood singed her skin and hair. Shu regained her footing, and looks back at the beast; it was running straight for her. The floor shook around them as it's huge feet collided with the ground. Her eyes darted to a nearby pole; Shu's tail wrapped around the pole and whipped around to smack the beast across the face. It gave a mighty roar as it flew into a car; the vehicle exploding as he made contact. "And you're already causing property damage." MidKnight landed beside Shu, it was weird to see him out in the daytime. "Shut up MidKnight..." From the smoke of the explosion, the beast walked out; the cracks in its skin were glowing brighter. It ripped chunks of metal and concrete from its arms as it lumbered towards the two; MidKnight quickly pulled out three razor sharp discs and Shu got on all fours. Without warning the beast jumped into the air, but MidKnight was prepared. He threw the three discs into the beasts chest, magma squirting out of the center of its heart. It gripped its chest as it fell, giving Shu the perfect opportunity to finish it off. She picked up a car with both hands and spun before throwing it straight at the beast. The sedan spun in the air as it flew, until it collided with the beast and exploded. The explosion sent the beast flying back into a supermarket. "Jesus Christ Shu, what did I just say!?" "Did you have any better ideas?" MidKnight stayed silent, he truly didn't have any better ideas, but he wasn't going to let her know that. "Sorry for the wait." Jen said as she dropped in the middle of Shu and MidKnight. Only moments after, a bolt of lightning struck next to Shu, Mark walking casually from the smoke. "Hey Shu." "Hey Mark!" But their friendly dialogue was cut short by the beast, once again, walking from the debris. Shu was just trying to hold the beast off until back-up came, she knew that throwing it around wasn't going to keep it down for long. Jen quickly scanned the beast with her optical sensor and started to develop a plan to take it down. But before she could utter a sentence, Mark ran towards it; electricity flowing around him. He could already feel the himself deteriorating, which is why he had to focus as much as he could into one powerful attack. As soon as he was near, Mark threw both of his fists directly at the beasts chest; his hands glowing blue with electricity. The electricity pulsing throughout his hands ravaged the beast's body as Mark's fists rammed into the beast's chest. It gave a mighty roar and flailed around...but it did not go down. Within seconds of the attack; the beast had regained its composure and grabbed Mark by the leg. Mark and the league were still in shock as it threw him into a park bench. "Shu, you're going to have to distract, MidKnight; me and you are going to tie a rope around it's legs and try to bring it down." MidKnight and Shu nodded as Jen spoke, Mark still hadn't gotten up from the destroyed park bench. Shu took off like a cheetah chasing its prey, and MidKnight took out a grappling hook from its holster on his calf. The beast looked to Shu and pounded its chest; Mark had really pissed this thing off. The earth shook as the beast broke off into a sprint towards Shu...it was surprisingly fast. Oncoming police cars swerved out of their way as they took off down the city block. MidKnight quickly shot the grappling hook at the beasts thigh, the hook piercing through one of its many cracks and implanting itself into its body. "Oh Shi-" Before MidKnight could finish, he was dragged off behind the beast. He hung on for dear life as the force of its running repeatedly slammed him against the pavement and slammed him into light posts. His armor was the only thing that was keeping his bones from shattering. Jen put her leg gears into overdrive and ran off towards the beast at incredibly fast speeds. She ran adjacent to MidKnight; trying unsuccessfully to grab him. As she tried a second time, the sound of a shot rang out through the area. Jen watched in horror as a bullet pierced through Shu's shoulder and sent her tumbling backwards. The beast made a wild turn around to try and catch Shu, which caused MidKnight to swing directly into the pillar of a building. His helmet shattered upon impact, the force causing him to become unconscious. His body flew through the air like a rag doll; before slamming back down onto a car. Jen looked up at a nearby rooftop and spotted a feminine figure with a sniper rifle slowly retreating from the scene. Before Jen could shoot a bolas at her, she heard the sound of deep grunting behind her. The last thing she saw before the world went black, was a gigantic, cracked hand swinging towards her face.