3 Chapter 3- Supers United

July 13, 2023

Manhattan, New York

The night usually brought quiet around the courthouse, court justice could only be served during the day. But that didn't mean that there was no crime to be solved at night, crime doesn't sleep. And that's why MidKnight stood at the top of the courthouse, looking for crime wherever it festered. His almost purely dark attire allowed him to blend in with the sky. Then, from his pocket, he felt a strong buzzing against his thigh. He slowly opened a pouch on his left thigh and pulled out a phone, it was a message. The message read, "Empire State Building, 12 AM". MidKnight stared at the message for a few moments, who could be trying to contact him? The only people who had his phone number were The Mayor, his Ex-wife, and...Genevieve. It had to be her, only she would know where the league used to meet. But why now? She was one of the first to disband from the league after the Battle for Las Vegas, and now she wanted to see him? No, any feelings he once had for Jen were lost after her cowardly abdication from heroism. Though he wanted nothing more to forget about the message and go back to patrolling, the damn thought wouldn't leave his mind. "Jesus Christ Jen...this better be good." MidKnight ran to the very edge of the building and jumped off, opening his arms and allowing his cape to let him glide. As he glided over rooftops, he saw a small figure running in all fours. The thing was fast, and it, too, seemed to be running towards the Empire State Building. He could make out a large tail; which it used to swing itself off flagpoles. "What the...." MidKnight leaned his body forward, causing him to lose altitude. He could make out more features now. It looked like a human girl, but the tail and supernatural speed suggested otherwise. The girl looked back at him, her eyes widening as she saw him. "MidKnight!?" The distinctive Chinese accent was all MidKnight needed, the girl was Meixiang. She was also a former member of the league, but she was never found after the Battle for Las Vegas. Meixiang stopped running and MidKnight landed next to her, an awkward silence hung in the air. "It's...been a long time." Meixiang finally spoke, but she didn't look MidKnight in the eyes; though that would be hard to do as he was wearing a mask. "We thought you were dead Shu, where the hell have you been?" Meixiang flinched at the sound of his deep voice, even though she knew that it was just the voice changer in his mask, it was still terrifying. "W-well, after everyone died, I couldn't bring myself to come back. Everyone had already moved on, and I thought I should too." MidKnight simply looked down at Shu in silence, she was about 4 feet and 5 inches tall, while MidKnight stood at 6"4. "And you called yourself a hero? A real hero would've come back and at least tried, but you ran like a coward...just like everyone else." MidKnight started to walk away, Shu's face contorting into a frown. "Hey! I was a hero! I put my life on the line for the innocent, I almost died for you!" MidKnight stopped in his tracks, slowly looking over to her. "And look where that got us." He jumped off of the building and started to glide towards the Empire State Building. "Jerk...." Meixiang muttered as she took off towards the building. They traveled together in silence, both of them mad at each other for different reasons. Finally, they reached the Empire State Building; spotting a figure standing on top of it. Meixiang crawled up the scaffolding, while MidKnight used a pair of Ice Climbing Picks to get to the rooftop. "Exactly 12 O'clock, that's surprising," Jen said in her usual cold tone. "Cut the shit, Jen. Why did you call us here?" She held up a finger to silence MidKnight; behind his mask, he was rolling his eyes. "There's one more person." Meixiang looked around the rooftop; it didn't look like anyone else was there. But, suddenly the faint buzz of electricity filled the air. "Oh god, no..." MidKnight groaned, realizing who the other person was. From a generator on top of the building, a bolt of electricity struck the ground beside them; from the smoke emerged a medium sized man. His hair was as grey as the moon, and he wore a cocky smile. "So it was you, Jen. Can't say I'm surprised, you never were one for the blatantly obvious." "And somehow, you're just as annoying as you were two years ago." Mark turned to MidKnight, a single grey eyebrow raised. "MidKnight? You're just as...friendly as you were two years ago. Also, did you start going to the gym, your biceps are really bulging man!" MidKnight shook his head; how could one man be so annoying? "Hey, Mark!" Meixiang exclaimed, a bright smile on her face. Mark's attention then turned to Shu, out of all the heroes he had ever met, she was definitely the nicest. "How's it going, Shu? Say, you still live behind that Chinese restaurant?" Shu lowered her head in shame, it wasn't her fault that the price of living in New York was so absurdly high. "While there's nothing I love more than a good conversation, I didn't call you guys here to have a reunion." Mark put on a fake pout, Jen looking over to Mark and rolling her one eye. "I called you guys here...because I want the league back together." The trio all took turns looking at each other, then back to Jen. MidKnight, unsurprisingly, was the first to speak up. "You say that, yet you were the first to leave after Las Vegas. What caused this sudden change of heart?" MidKnight was suspicious and abrasive, though he was good at hiding it, the disbandment of the league hurt him on a personal level. He considered a lot of the league his family, even if he didn't always show it, and he took the heroes leaving as betrayal. Although Mark didn't necessarily agree with MidKnight's reasoning, he did agree with his premise. There were simply not enough heroes left in the world to make a league, nor were there any global threats for them to deal with. Meixiang was conflicted though, she layed low after the disbandment of the league. So she didn't pay much attention to the outside world. Therefore she kept quiet. "I hate to say this, but I have to agree with old MidKnight over here. The world doesn't need another league." Mark gestured towards MidKnight and shrugged, he really did hate agreeing with him. "That's where you're wrong: DarkClaw is back...he never died." There was a moment of shocked silence, but it was broken by Mark's hyperbolic laugh. "Now that's funny. I saw him die, Jen, I used every last bit of electricity in my body to put him down. I'm still recovering from that battle." "Well, then you clearly weren't enough to kill him. I ran into him a few hours ago, he was weak...but he was recovering. If we give him enough time he'll probably be just as strong as he was two years ago, maybe even stronger." Jen sensed the disbelief amongst the group, she had to drive her point home. "Listen, when the league disbanded, the world turned to shit. You all might want to hide from that, but it's the truth. Without heroes, supers instead used their powers for their own personal benefit. The global crime rate skyrocketed and people lost faith. Not only in supers but in themselves. And you all lost faith when you watched your friends and family die by DarkClaw's hand. But you can take that all back. Bring faith back to the world, avenge everyone who died. The world needs a league again; a group of people who they know will keep them safe. I'm begging you...don't let this world fall to darkness." Meixiang stared at Jen with sympathy...she was right. She slowly walked over to Jen and held her hand, the woman had only been on earth for 5 years so it was hard to hold her childishness against her. "You know, I think that's the most emotion you've ever shown in your life." Mark said with a smile, his multi-colored eyes lighting up as he went over to the two and nodded. "And since Shu is in, I guess I am too." Meixiang giggled and look up at Mark, holding his hand as well. "You all hide out for years, and now that DarkClaw is back, you suddenly want to start being heroes again? If I could, I would stop you three from ever being heroes again. But someone needs to make sure this 'league' stays in line. So I guess....I'm in." They all knew that MidKnight loved the idea of the league coming back together, his pride just got in the way of everything he said. Mark reached out his hand to MidKnight, a smirk on his face. "Just hold my hand, it would be kind of weird if we didn't." With a sigh, MidKnight limply gripped Mark's hand. MidKnight felt a cold hand grip his other hand, Jen had also held his hand. They were now a team, but they were not yet heroes. It was going to take a lot more than words to become heroes, for now they were a team of supers. They were, "Supers United".