Fissure let Miss Liberty’s blows land on his rocky skin, barely even registering that they were connecting. “Maggie… Please stop.” He said. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
Miss Liberty shook her head. “I can’t stop.” She said. “I’m going to make you pay for leaving me.” She swung at him again, and there was an audible crack as her knuckle broke under the force of her own punch.
“Maggie… Please.” Fissure begged.
“I HATE YOU!” Miss Liberty screamed, as she pounded shot after shot onto his unflinching body. Her hands were a bloody mess as she broke bone after bone, cartilage and tendons ripping after every blow. The tears streaming down her face.
Watching the love of his life cause herself so much pain tore him apart. She was fighting him with so much passion, he was beginning to believe her. She was just going to keep trying and trying, and she was going to do some serious damage to herself.
Fissure knew what he had to do, but that didn’t mean he wanted to do it. He had to stop her. And that meant one thing.
Fissure deflected Miss Liberty’s blow with his hand, before gripping her shoulder with the other, activating a pressure point, sending her into unconsciousness.
He took a deep breath, expelling the bad feelings that were creeping into his mind. Something was clearly wrong here. He had to find the others.
He picked up Miss Liberty and slung her over his shoulder, before the two faded into the concrete.
Moments later, they materialised on the balcony of the Brat Pack’s penthouse. The lights were out, and their headquarters was empty. Fissure began dialling his phone, only to discover the battery was dead.
Miss Liberty began to stir and Fissure sighed. The concrete beneath her morphed around her, trapping her legs. Sure she was securely imprisoned, Fissure began planning his next move.
<><><>
Dean kicked his sister, sending her rolling across the dancefloor.
“Stand up.” He commanded.
Verona sobbed on the ground. Dean kicked her again. “Get up!”
Verona crawled up to her knees, head bowed, tears still falling onto the floor in front of her.
Dean pulled a gun from his jacket and pressed the muzzle up to her head. “I’m done with you.”
Verona gave a wail, as she felt the crushing fear and despair become so much more real. Dean smiled. This was it.
“I’m going to enjoy this.” Dean said, as he switched the safety off.
“No.” Verona sobbed.
“What?” Dean demanded, driving the muzzle of the gun harder into her head, drawing blood.
Verona looked up at Dean, leaving the muzzle of the gun pointing directly into his forehead. “No.” She said.
Too late, Dean noticed the tiny fragments of ice on the floor, where her tears had been. Her tears like miniature glaciers flowing down her face. The moisture in the air encased the gun, rendering it useless.
“Verona…” The fear was in Dean’s voice now. He knew what she was capable of.
“I’m done being afraid.” Verona said, and everything went black for Dean.
His body crashed to the ground and shattered, as every molecule of water in his body formed into ice, and Verona collapsed next to it, curling back into the fetal position, weeping silently.
<><><>
The Blackbird’s entire body throbbed in pain with every heartbeat as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes to find the world, quite literally, upside-down. He struggled weakly for a moment, as he realised he had been tied up, and was hanging from a lamp-post.
“I have to admit, you do have some nice toys.” The Shadow said, stepping into The Blackbird’s line of sight. In his hand was The Blackbird’s grappling-hook launcher. The Blackbird looked up to find that he was actually bound by his own cable.
“But they’re no good to you now.” The Shadow said. “Now you’re on your own.”
The Shadow had his advantage now, and he pressed it for all it was worth, laying punch after punch on The Blackbird’s helpless body, taking time to kick him in the face and torso, leaving him bruised and broken.
“I told you you’d never be rid of me, and now I’m going to be the end of you. But you knew that all along, didn’t you?” The Shadow taunted.
“Never.” The Blackbird replied. “You can’t win.”
The Shadow’s face contorted into rage under his mask, as he delivered his finishing blow to The Blackbird’s throat, closing his windpipe, sending The Blackbird into darkness once more.
<><><>
Pixel was tiring. Her all-out attack on Gauss was wearing her down more than it was hurting him. She was focusing all her strength, all her powers and her stamina into hitting Gauss from the crowd of illusory duplicates she had created for herself.
“You can’t keep this up forever.” Gauss said, sensing her weakness.
“I don’t have to.” The army of Pixel replied. “I just have to beat you.”
Gauss laughed. “I’m done playing games.”
A cloud of shrapnel exploded, striking all the Pixels, which disappeared once the original was hit. Pixel dropped to her knees, clutching her torso where the metal had cut through her skin.
“Makes you think of old times, doesn’t it?” Gauss taunted, floating over to her.
Pixel’s eyes widened, as she realised what was next. From a pouch on Gauss’ belt, a razorblade appeared, floating towards Pixel.
“NOOOO!!!” She shouted, disappearing, throwing all of her strength into one last teleport.
She reappeared a dozen blocks away, well within eyeshot of the Penthouse. The last thing she saw as she passed out was two figures standing on their balcony…
<><><>
Firestorm spun in midair as the veteran superhero’s fist connected with his chin, sending him tumbling. For an old man, Uncle Sam could pack a punch. Firestorm hit the ground hard, he didn’t even have a chance to get his bearings before Uncle Sam kicked him in the gut. Twice.
“Get up.” Uncle Sam ordered, before kicking him again, the force rolling him onto his back.
Firestorm got up to his knees and spat out blood, glaring at Uncle Sam, who roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking him flat again.
“I’ll give you this much. You’re taking more punishment than your father ever could.” Uncle Sam taunted, as Firestorm tried to get back to his feet. Uncle Sam punted the young hero in the head, knocking him unconscious. “Pathetic.”
<><><>
Mr Perfect couldn’t understand it. But it didn’t matter. The two people he trusted most in the world were attacking him. Something wasn’t right.
“And now for my next trick…” Mr Universe smiled a wicked smile. “Stop me if you’ve seen this one. Or try at least.”
Mr Perfect didn’t have time to move as chunks of steel bound his arms and legs, leaving him helpless in midair. “What are you doing?”
“Just something I picked up from a friend of ours.” Mr Universe’s face was still frozen in that smile.
Mr Perfect’s eyes went wide as he saw the razorblades float into view. There was little that could pierce his skin, but at the right velocity, razorblades could cut him. He had discovered this the hard way in their first fight with Gauss.
The razors began spinning so fast they were nothing but a blur, as they got closer and closer to Mr Perfect’s skin. “Matt…” Mr Perfect said. “Don’t cross that line.”
“Too late.” Mr Universe began cackling, as the razorblades touched Mr Perfect, tearing through his uniform and skin alike.
Mr Perfect fought the urge to scream. He was above that, and didn’t want to give Mr Universe the satisfaction.
“Oh, that’s cute.” Belle taunted. “You think you can resist?” Her smile mirrored Mr Universe’s. “Matt’s not the only one with a new trick… You see, I can amplify your thoughts for you.”
Mr Perfect’s vision turned white, as his entire existence became pain. He couldn’t comprehend anything but the razorblades cutting his skin, it filled his every sense, and it overwhelmed him.

Fissure stood still, the stone covering his skin absorbing the blows being rained down on him by Miss Liberty’s staff. “You left me first.” He said, not even acknowledging her attacks.
“What?” The second Miss Liberty stopped, confused by his statement.
“You’re here telling me that I abandoned you? You think I wanted the mission more than I wanted to be with you?” Fissure said. “You’re saying that I was the one who left you?”
“You travelled back to before I was born, before you were born. You knew you’d never see me again. You left me.” Miss Liberty said.
“But did you leave me before that?” Fissure asked.
Miss Liberty was silent, not understanding where he was going with it.
“You left the Brat Pack and joined the rebels. You left me in charge of the Brat Pack so you could go on and join the grown-ups.” Fissure said.
“That’s completely different.” Miss Liberty protested.
“No, it’s the same. You abandoned me first.” Fissure said. “I was just trying to get into the Rebellion to be with you. I had hope for a way back.”
“Liar.” Miss Liberty charged forward, swinging her staff.
Fissure sighed, as the staff bounced from his outer shell, unable to be injured, but unwilling to fight his former love.
<><><>
Verona was curled up in a ball on the floor of the club, which was now silent, except for the sound of Dean Mitchell’s voice, and Verona’s quiet sobs.
“You’re pathetic. You can’t fight me.” Dean said, face twisted into some semblance of a smile, revelling in the pain he was causing.
Verona felt the shame and fear overwhelming her, she knew it was Dean’s power, she knew it wasn’t real. Or did she? Every word he’d said was true. She was just the youngest, she was a joke. Everyone knew it. The whole world was waiting for her to fail again, or get bored and move on. No-one expected her to become anything.
And now it was all going to come to an end. Dean was going to kill her, for being such an embarrassment. It was all over.
<><><>
The Blackbird threw his shuriken at The Shadow, who dodged out of the way of the first, deflected the second with his boot, and absorbed the third with his forearm, the damage healing itself almost as soon as it made contact.
“You can’t win. I’m stronger than you.” The Shadow said. “You’re weighed down by all your new toys. All your new responsibilities. A moral code. And of course, your mentor’s legacy. You’ll never be half the crimefighter I was.”
The Blackbird shook his head. “I’m still better than you.” He rushed forward, landing a flurry of blows on his opponent’s torso. “I have better training.” He swept The Shadow’s legs out from under him, but The Shadow just kipped back up. “I have better tools.” A quick blast to The Shadow’s eyes from the single-shot mace canister The Blackbird had hidden in his wrist left the vigilante blinded. “And I command respect, not just fear.” The Blackbird leaped up and kicked The Shadow in the chest with both legs, using the momentum to so a somersault in mid-air, landing back on his feet, as The Shadow went sprawling across the rooftop.
The Shadow wiped his eyes, as they fought to regenerate the constant damage caused by the mace’s irritation. After a few moments he was back on his feet. “Too bad you’re not faster.” The Shadow smiled, as he drew his twin pistols. Before The Blackbird could react, his enemy opened fire.
The Blackbird felt the searing pain through his abdomen and chest. He felt the warmth of his own blood flowing from his body. The last thing he saw was The Shadow standing over him, laughing.
Then everything went black.
<><><>
The tears streamed down Ally’s face, as she kept running. She teleported forwards, crossing the next street, and she felt as the projectile Gauss had thrown at her passed through the spot she had just been. That wasn’t something she wanted to experience ever again.
“I almost had you that time, child.” Gauss cackled. He had more than the power to end this whenever he wanted. He was having far too much fun to stop.
Ally ignored his taunts. She just kept running. She had to get back to the penthouse. Someone had to be there to help her. But it was just too far away.
“And child, after I finish with you, I’m going after everyone you hold dear. Belle. Firestorm. Fissure. Mr Perfect. And last, but certainly not least, the one I’m going to savour the most. The pretender, Mr Universe.” Gauss said.
Ally stopped. “No!”
Gauss was stunned for a moment. “What? Have you finally grown a spine?” Gauss laughed. “Allow me to remove it for you.”
“I’d like to see you try.” Ally said, as she threw a shower of sparks into his eyes, blinding the villain temporarily.
Gauss laughed. “Is that the best you can do child? I can still sense you. There is far too much metal on your body for me to find.”
“I’m not running away.” Ally said. “I’m not hiding.”
As the spots in his vision cleared, Ally’s plan was revealed. Standing in front of Gauss was an army of Pixels.
“Foolish girl. You think that I will be intimidated by your illusions?” Gauss said. “I already told you, you have too much metal on your person for me to be fooled.”
“That would be a problem.” The dozens of Pixels said. “Except my illusions aren’t just light and sound.”
“What!?” Gauss demanded.
“They’re a psychic projection. I can make them look and sound however I want. I can also do this.” The army of Pixels said, as Gauss began to sense metal all around him. “What? No! It’s impossible!”
“Nothing’s impossible.” The Pixels said. “Just improbable.” The horde descended on Gauss, who threw up a shield to protect himself, not knowing quite which attack to defend against.
<><><>
Firestorm ducked, just barely dodging the swing from Uncle Sam’s staff. The man was five times his age, and was faster and stronger than he was. The only edge he had was his powers. Of course, he’d have to land a hit for that.
Uncle Sam ducked out of the way of an errant fireball with ease, before sweeping Firestorm’s legs with his staff, sending the teen tumbling to the ground. “Even your father had enough discipline to know when to take his shots. You’re just wearing yourself down.”
Firestorm scowled, before sending out a blast of fire in all directions, knowing Uncle Sam couldn’t dodge that. The veteran instead spun his staff expertly, shielding himself from the attack. “That’s not helping.”
Firestorm smiled, before unleashing another, more powerful blast, this time the change in air pressure was enough to knock Uncle Sam off balance, and Firestorm took the opportunity to nail him with a fireball, which was mostly absorbed by Uncle Sam’s body armour.
“Now you’re fighting like your father.” Uncle Sam said. “He would have done that ten minutes ago, and this fight would have been over. How are you going to play it?”
Firestorm roared and charged forward, fists swinging. Uncle Sam just shook his head.
<><><>
Mr Perfect twisted in midair, as he avoided Mr Universe’s debris bombardment. “Damn it, why are you doing this?” He demanded, as he smashed another attack.
“To prove a point.” Mr Universe said.
”You’re nothing without us.” Belle added.
Mr Perfect couldn’t believe what was going on. The love of his life, and one of his most trusted friends were attacking him. Something was wrong.
”Nothing is wrong, sweetie. This is happening. We’re going to take you down. You need to start fighting back if you want to stand a chance. Belle had clearly been reading his mind.
“No! Never! Something’s going on here.” Mr Perfect said, but Belle had distracted him too well, he took a huge chunk of metal to the chest, knocking the wind out of him.
“Yeah. You’re getting your ass kicked.” Mr Universe said.
Mr Perfect knew it was true, but he couldn’t bring himself to fight back.

Fisher dodged backwards, narrowly missing the swing of Miss Liberty’s staff. “What are you doing here?” He asked, ducking the backswing.
“Why do I even still exist?” Miss Liberty replied. “Why do you still exist?” She added, bring the staff back, readying herself for her next attack. “We should have both faded out of existence. You should have changed the timeline by now.” Miss Liberty vaulted forward, using her staff to launch herself feet-first at her former boyfriend, who managed to roll out of the way of the attack, depositing her on the ground, where she sprang back at him, this time grazing him with her fist.
“Carmichael was too well defended. I failed.” Fisher admitted, rubbing his cheek, where her fist had connected. “I couldn’t do it.”
“You’re pathetic.” Miss Liberty sneered. “You’re nothing but a weak, pathetic failure.” She lashed out with her staff, and Fisher barely had time to react. He moved, but not fast enough, the end of the staff clipping just under his kneecap, causing pain to shoot up his leg, and the hero to falter slightly. Miss Liberty took her shot, bringing the staff back in another backswing, this time taking his other leg out from under him. She leaped on top of him, holding her staff across his throat.
“You think you can just abandon me like that?” She asked, pressing down on his windpipe. “You want to leave me for your great mission, and then fail?”
Fissure disappeared into the concrete, using his earthport ability to escape Miss Liberty’s chokehold, reforming from the pavement a few feet away. “I was doing my duty.” He said. “You of all people should understand that.”
“You are nothing.” Miss Liberty spat, before launching into her next attack.
<><><>
A crowd had formed around the siblings on the dancefloor. Everyone wanted to see the action. They wanted to see the superheroine fight her evil brother. They were sorely disappointed.
Dean towered over Verona. “You’re a joke.” He said.
A wave of shame hit Verona. He was right, of course. She knew what people thought of her. Nobody took her seriously. Why should they? She was just another party girl heiress. A girl who was only famous because she was famous. This superhero thing was just going to disappear, just like Paris Hilton’s reality show. It was only a matter of time.
“You’re never going to live up to the rest of us. Phillip runs dad’s damn company, Robert runs the international subsidiaries, and I ruled the Los Angeles underworld. And what did you do? You tried to release a single. And failed. You tried to be a model. And failed. Now you’re trying to be a superhero? This is going to be your most spectacular failure yet.” Dean laughed, using his powers to force the feeling of shame and disappointment to overwhelm Verona, who collapsed in a heap on the ground, covering her face, as her body was wracked with sobs.
“Pathetic.” Dean said. “You pathetic baby.”
<><><>
The Blackbird ducked out of the way of The Shadow’s lunge. “This is impossible.” The Blackbird said, as he swept The Shadow’s legs out from under him. “You can’t be The Shadow. You’re just an imitator.”
The Shadow used his backward momentum to backflip, landing back on his feet, before springing forward and attacking The Blackbird again, this time with a flurry of punches, several of which landed. “I’m the real thing.” The Shadow insisted, following up with a roundhouse kick, which The Blackbird caught.
“And I keep telling you, that’s impossible.” The Blackbird said, punching The Shadow in the tendon behind his exposed knee, causing him to cry out in pain, before throwing him over his shoulder. The Shadow landed with a loud cracking sound, as his shoulder crumbled under him.
The Shadow began laughing, as he climbed to his feet. “You want me to prove it?” He asked, as he clutched his broken shoulder. There was a loud grinding sound, as The Shadow’s shoulder began to knit itself together. “I’m The Shadow.”
The Blackbird’s eyes went wide. He couldn’t be The Shadow.
“You’re starting to believe it now, are you?” The Shadow laughed. “I told you. You’ll never be rid of me.”
<><><>
Ally teleported to the next building and started running. What was Gauss doing here? He was in Alcatraz. Or Guantanamo. Wasn’t he?
Ally looked back over her shoulder, and sure enough, Gauss was in hot pursuit. “You’re never going to get away.” He taunted.
Ally turned back to the direction she was running in, just in time to find she had run out of building. She teleported past the next building, and onto the rooftop of the building on the other side of the street, without even breaking her stride. She had to get away, and there was no way she could just teleport to safety, she didn’t have the power.
“Where are you running to? You think I won’t be able to catch you?” Gauss cackled, as he sailed after her.
Ally shook her head, there was no way she was going to let him catch her. Not again. Another gap. The world around her disappeared for a moment, before she found herself on the other side of the gap, still running.
“You would rather run than face me?” Gauss said. “No wonder the rest of your team look down on you.” Gauss began tearing TV antennas from the nearest roof, throwing them at Ally, who barely managed to teleport out of the way. “You’re nothing but a coward. At least the others try to fight me.”
Gauss began growing tired of his game, and picked up speed, overtaking the young heroine and landing in front of her. “Not that I blame you. If I was as weak and insignificant as you, I would run away from me too.” He began to laugh, as Ally teleported past him and just kept running.
<><><>
Mosley didn’t know what hit him, as Uncle Sam swept his legs out from under him, using his staff. Even though he had to be over ninety years old, Uncle Sam was faster and stronger than he was. Mosley felt as the wind was knocked out of him when he hit the ground.
“And another thing.” Uncle Sam said. “Your father knew how to fight properly.” Mosley got to his feet, only to be knocked back down, this time from a quick jab to the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him again. “Because he was willing to learn.”
Mosley had had enough. Legend or not, Uncle Sam had crossed the line. His entire body was covered in flames, as he stood up to face the first American superhero. “Listen old man, I’m nothing like my father.” Firestorm said.
“You’re exactly like your father.” Uncle Sam said. “He liked to hide behind his powers too. Why fight man-to-man when you can just burn me, right?” Uncle Sam laid a flurry of blows on Firestorm, who winced as he was hit across his chest and stomach. “The difference was: he still could. You’re weak. You’re just a shadow of what your father was.”
Firestorm screamed, as he fired a volley of fireballs at Uncle Sam, who deftly twisted in the air, dodging every last one of them. “You can’t even use your powers right.” Uncle Sam continued. “Your father would have me beaten by now.”
Firestorm gave a roar, as he charged at the other hero.
<><><>
Kevin barely managed to duck out of the way of the oncoming car, he was still stunned by what was going on in front of him. “Wh-what are you doing?” He asked.
“Jeez Kev, I know you’re not that bright, but I’d have thought it was obvious.” Mr Universe taunted, as the car came back for another attack, but this time Kevin was ready, punching through the front of the car, and using his super-strength to tear it in half.
“Give him some time. You know he can’t think properly for himself.” Belle said. “He needs someone to guide him. Someone has to tell him what to think. It used to be you, remember? Now he has Fissure and The Blackbird.” Belle turned back to Kevin. “Poor thing. All that leading must hurt his little head.”
“I think it’s scrambled his brains.” Mr Universe said. “Because now I have two weapons.”
Kevin had to be on his toes now, as the two halves of the car were now attacking him at a furious pace, he barely had time to duck one, before he had to punch the other away. Over and over again. He just couldn’t keep up with it. Eventually, he just stopped, and let the two pieces of car hit him at the same time, his skin was definitely strong enough to withstand the blow. He then proceeded to tear the car into dozens of smaller pieces.
“Oh Kevin… That was just about the dumbest thing you could have done.” Belle said, as Mr Universe began spinning the remnants of the car, forming a vortex around the leader of the Brat Pack.