Fantastic League of Heroes

Origins (I)

(Introducing Mark Bryan and Mary Stark; Hero and Miss Awesome) 

(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, YEAR 2020)

(SUNSHINE CITY)

(DR. ROBERTS LAB)

From outside it looked almost like a regular tech laboratory, but on the inside; the neatly polished walls and its facilities were all one would need in lab... A superhero lab to be precise.

Though this lab was owned by a man who goes by the name; Robert Hicks, but it's not actually a laboratory for the public; that's why it's in a secluded spot.

Out of one of the other rooms came a young guy; American with black hair and shaves. His name’s Mark Bryan. But he wasn't there alone, rather there were three others in there with him

Mary Stark; a lady with an average stature, but who is she? Who was the first guy too?

Well, they have something in common; both possess superpowers and are hoping to be superheroes.

Next person with them was Ben Gilbert; a computer guy whose eyes were glued to the computer screen; just the one before him though, cause there are many more in there. 

Finally, we have Dr. Robert Hicks; as said earlier, he's the owner of the lab.

Now that they were all seated, Dr. Robert spoke, 

      “Mark, Mary… your super-suits are ready,” Mark smiles slightly, but the doctor wasn’t done, “So are you guys ready to be superheroes?” 

     “Yes, we are…” Mary answers, “If my dad can be a superhero in Star City, then I can do that too. And it feels even better to have someone else who has superpowers on the team.”

 Ben chuckles softly while Mark said, “There ain’t much threats on this city, but this is the age of superpowers, so we’re just doing this in case of emergencies…”

Ben nods and added, “Oh yeah, we can't rule that out. But not to worry, I’ll be right behind the computer desks here monitoring everything that goes on” 

He smirks, while Mark replies, “But I have unfinished businesses I should attend to, and I won’t make it direct, I’ll avenge my parents by tearing down Johnny’s life”.

Dr. Robert adjusts his spectacle and asked, “Mr. Johnny Tony, right?... the man who murdered your parents!”. He Sighs and continues, “Mark… I’d say the time to avenge them is getting closer… but not right now”. 

Ben stopped working on the computer, looking surprised, so he asked, “So what you’re trying to say is that Johnny Tony, like… the same Johnny Tony everyone knows… he murdered your parents, why?” 

Mary exhales sharply and answers, “because Mark’s parents revealed all of his father’s dark secrets, and due to shock of being revealed plus the shame, Johnny’s father committed suicide”

“Then he killed my parents,” Mark said with a serious face; putting on a frown before he concluded, “and my unborn sibling”

Ben gasps, “So, we’re gonna have to take him down soon”. Mary scoffs and said, “Just like in Star City, the famous businessman, Mr. Benson, and Dr. Hans were the ones who caused my mom’s death” 

Dr. Robert replied, “why do rich businessmen do crazy things?”.  “no idea” Mark replies and added, “…now where are our outfits?” 

(SUNSHINE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT - SCPD)

A lot of movement was going on in here; cops moving around and discussions amongst some; but wasn’t noisy. The Captain of the police station was in his quiet office with his Assistant having a conversation when the door was knocked. Their conversation was disrupted while the Captain said aloud, “Come in!” 

Immediately, a young lady, came in smiling, 24 years, long black and straight hair, was also an American. She was putting on a black shirt, and brown jeans trousers which was fitted; she was a detective as well. 

The Captain said as she came in, “Oh, Beth, what’s the problem?”. Bethany shrugs her shoulder and clears her throat before she brought herself to answer,

     “Huh, we’re about to release Rey Carrillo. But Sir, I don’t think we should just let him… go scot free… we both know he’s a notorious criminal” 

The assistant looked at the Captain saying, “Bethany is right, I think we should detain him for bit longer” but Bethany cuts in quickly, “No, we should let him go, but I’m gonna tail him, and by doing that, we can get the others”

The captain replied, “Good idea, do that please”. Bethany nodded with a smile of excitement which she was trying not to show, “Yes sir!”

She left the office immediately, but as soon as she stepped outside, her phone began to ring.

She hurriedly checked the caller like she was expecting a call already; ‘Mark- My Man’ was the contact’s saved name.

She smiled awkwardly and answered the call while walking to a quiet passageway, she spoke into the phone, 

    “Hello, Mark… yeah I’m still at the station, and I’m actually going out to spy on someone… yeah, I’ll be careful, babe. Thanks… I love you too honey, okay… 6pm is fine. I’ll be available. Bye”. she ended the call, smiling sheepishly and then continued on to the other cops.

(DR. ROBERTS LAB)

Mary and Ben were now the only ones present, and it looked like the former was in thoughts, so Ben asked, 

      “What’s going on with you? You look sad… what’s the problem?” 

“Well, I’m actually just tired, nothing more” She responded, faking a smile. Ben chuckles softly and replied, “You can’t fool me, Mary… I know it's about your feelings for Mark” 

Mary looks up and sighs, while Ben continues, “… But he has a girlfriend... and their relationship is definitely on the right track to eternity…” 

“I’m fine, just forget it... it’s okay, they’re good together… and in no time, I’ll probably find my soulmate”, Mary said while she got off the chair.

   “That's right. And a quick info; I might be travelling soon... to UK to meet my family though the day isn't fixed yet”, Ben said as he continues working on the computer. 

    “Alright, But where’s Mark?”, Mary asked looking curious, while Ben answered, “Gone… to help Bethany, in case she gets into any form of trouble”. 

He continues, “Sometimes I wish had superpowers so I can impress my girlfriend even more, and I wouldn’t hide my powers from her like Mark does...” 

   “I’ll be back”, Mary said, not minding what Ben said, so she went out immediately.

Outside a building was Rey Carrillo; the criminal who was just released by the cops. He had a black jacket on, with a shirt beneath, which was accompanied by chinos trousers and black shoes.

He was just about to go into the abandoned warehouse with another guy who looked more like a gangster. 

They were being watched from nearby by Bethany and four other detectives who also dressed casually.

And as soon as the duo went in, Bethany said to the others “That’s it… it must be their hideout, let’s go… Jonas call for back up if we don’t come out in 3 minutes”. Jonas replies sharply, “okay” 

Bethany and 3 others went on to the building while Jonas stayed behind, checking his wrist watch. 

The barged in and it looked like an emptied warehouse. They saw Rey Carrillo; seated like a boss while other gangsters were on their feet; pointing guns at cops. He stood up and chortles, then yells, “I knew you would follow me and here you are, my realm… I would call it” 

Bethany replies, “Oh wow… nice trap to catch us but I hope you remember we’re not the only cops in the city so just surrender”, she still looked confident.

Rey pulled out a pistol gun and pointed at her while he was meters away, “I’m gonna blow your heads off one by one… and I’m starting with you little bitch” 

   “I don’t think you wanna do that”, Bethany said, while Rey chuckles. “I’m the boss here, this will be a warning to all the others!”, He yelled, and concluded, “I don’t wanna waste my cute little bullets on you… guys! Kill them!”

.

The gangsters opened fire, but the detectives jumped to different sides but one of the cops was shot on his shoulder. 

While Rey was about to leave, walking away from the other side where he and his gangsters positioned themselves. Suddenly, something crashed in through the roof; so fast, that on landing, the ground vibrated and a shock wave spreads out pushing everyone backwards. 

It wasn’t a thing, but a person, the ground had cracks, the roof had an opening, and right in the middle was a person, dressed in a black superhero outfit which reached down to his legs. 

It was long sleeved, and its’ ends were grey. His hair was brushed to a side, and he was putting on black boots, as well as fitted black trousers which looked joined to the top, but a belt was on his waist, grey in color, while on his chest was an ‘H’ symbol also grey in color. 

His outfit looked shiny and reflective, though black in color, he had a long black cape behind his back, which was being blown slowly, He was putting on a mask which covered his eye region, but his eye balls were visible. It was Mark, donning his superhero outfit; but who would know? Nobody.

.

Rey came forward asking as he looked stunned, “Who are you?”

“I AM HERO!”. He replied; slowly raising his head.

Then he boosted towards Rey and delivered a punch to his face which pushed the latter away and also knocked him out.

The others were shocked, and they quickly began to reload their guns with bullets so they could shoot him, but he was already attacking them as he moved swiftly avoiding the bullets of those who were now shooting.

He snapped guns in two and knocked each out with a punch or two on the face. 

He continued this till they were all unconscious; amazing the detectives and Bethany whose mouth was wide open.

The door was opened immediately and more cops came in, along with Jonas. They were surprised to see the unconscious gangsters, and Hero was still right there. While the cops were taking the gangsters, he looks up and flew outside speedily through the opening in the roof, while breeze blew off dust on the ground. 

One of Bethany’s seniors asked her, “What happened here?”, Bethany answered saying, “Sir, that unknown person just left saved our lives and knocked them out, really quick” 

    “And who is that person? Another criminal, an enemy of Rey Carrillo or what?”, He asked 

Bethany sighs and responded, “I don’t know… yet, sir… but his name HERO”

(DR. ROBERTS LAB)

Mark was back, and Mary was speaking to him, “You just went out there alone, why did you do that? Because it was your girlfriend who was in danger… huh?”. 

   “Yeah, I had to go” He said, but Ben interrupts as he called their attentions to the computer on the wall saying, “Guys, over here, live news on the TV”. They looked up and saw the headline; ‘Super human takes down gangsters’

Mark smiles and said, “Cool, right?”. Mary scoffs and replies, “No. Not cool… I should’ve been there as well. We should be the heroes… not just you” 

Dr. Roberts came in saying as he entered, “And you should have introduced yourself properly so they can know you are a superhero”. 

    “I’m sorry guys… next time we’ll save the day together”, Mark said. 

Mary replied saying, “Who knows when a next time will come”. She stormed out of the lab while Ben said to Mark, “She’s not angry, she’s just pissed”, he smirks.

(A RESTAURANT)

That evening, Mark and Bethany were seated on chairs opposite one another. She was putting on a cream-colored fitted and elastic gown which reached to her knees. Her long black hair dropped on her shoulders, while she was also putting on black high heeled shoes.

Mark was putting on a cream-colored long arm top which had a turtle neck, it was also elastic and fitted. He was on black jean trousers as well, and black sneakers. His hair well combed to the back, and his shaves smooth.

Obviously, they were having a conversation, as both parties were laughing, then Bethany asked, 

  “What do you do now? Still acquiring knowledge or what?”.

  “Huh, partially yes…”, He said, then continues, “I do some other things too”. Bethany smiling, replied, “Good, that's nice”

Mark clears his throat and asked, “If we get married, will you quit being a cop?”. Bethany chuckles softly, and answered “I don’t think I can quit”. 

Mark sighs  deeply, “But it’s a dangerous job… I heard you almost got shot when you went after the gangster into his den… and some kind of… super guy came to the rescue” 

  “Yeah, but it’s my job… and I love being a cop… I won’t let some kind of super person stop me from carrying out my duties… I should have captured the gangsters… he just left as he came… destroying the roof. He must be some kind of dangerous guy too”, She concluded

Mark replied immediately, “You think so? There’s a possibility of you being dead if he didn’t save the day”. 

They continued their conversation, while outside the restaurant, on the other side of the road, was a car; in the Audi R8 car was a man watching them. His face not revealed, but from the back, he had a short hair, and through the mirror, we can see he had a smile on his face. The engine revs as he drove away, the cars’ plate number was ‘Johnny T.’ 

(MARY’S HOUSE)

Her small sized house had a lot of necessities, and it was cozy and quiet. Mary was in her house that night on a couch. She looked lonely and unhappy, when she heard a sudden knock on the door; it came twice.

She looked to the door's direction and got up trying not to make a sound, so she walked slowly to the door and looked through the hole to see who it was, but she didn’t see anyone. She turned back about to head back to the couch, then she heard the knock again, and this time it was louder. 

Mary asked immediately and out frustration, “Who’s there?”. Then she got a reply from a calm male voice, “Is that Mary in there?  I’m a friend of yours from Star City”.  

Mary sighs and opened the door only to see a guy putting on a clown-like mas.

She tried to shut the door immediately, but he blocked it while she moved backwards, and then the unexpected happened, his hands stretched like rubber to grab her and then the stranger threw her at the wall. 

Mary hits her back on the wall while she fell to the ground afterwards. The masked guy came in with his hands now back to normal then he began to pick any valuable thing he saw into a big bag. 

But as he was about to leave, Mary stood up and made to attack him.

He tries to deliver a punch to her face, but she ducked, while she spin-kicked him on his face, causing the mask to fall, but before she could see his face, he hid his face. The mask rolled away more when he tried to pick it up, because Mary had stylishly blown it away with wind. The intruder dropped everything he stole and clenched his fist, which became bigger only to deliver a super punch to her torso. 

She was pushed backwards falling on her back, while he ran away quickly. As Mary stood up, she saw he was gone and she picked up her phone to dial Ben’s number. 

# # # # # # #

(Introducing Alice and Annie; Amazing Girl and Scarlet Lady)

(UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, YEAR 2003)

Two humane figures could be spotted close to a forest; and it seemed like they were battling one another, one on grey and the other on black while a girl was running towards them screaming,        

    “Dad!... Dad!! Shan please, stop!”. The one on black shot a blast at the other man, which sent the girl’s father flying backwards, resulting in him hitting his back against a tree. 

The young, 10 years old girl ran towards her exhausted looking father, shedding tears. “Alice my girl, don’t cry” Her father said.

She turned at the one on black, staring at him, while she was panting heavily, anger written all over her face, “Please, Shan… don’t do this… what has my father done to you to deserve death?... First, you killed my mother, and now my father…”, She pleaded.

Wizard Shan began to come closer, pulling out a black dagger from the right side of his black robe, “It’s just that, for me to live, he must die… a lot more people must die. Step aside girl, or you might be added to the list too”, Shan said with a broad smile on his face; he chuckles mischievously.

The other wizard; Alice’s father stood up slowly groaning. He touched his daughter’s shoulder while Shan was still coming slowly, the girl’s father then whispered to her, 

     “Alice, this is my last gift for you… go to Billy’s house”. Alice wipes her tears, and suddenly, Shan was hit and thrust backwards by an invisible force, meanwhile Alice’s father vanished slowly right on that spot. Alice tried not to cry anymore, and she could see Shan was crawling away.

(MR BILLY’S HOUSE)

Billy and his five year old daughter; Annie were together, he was reading a story to her from a book and she had full concentration on him.

Then, they heard a soft knock on the door, Billy stood up walking towards the door, “who’s there?” He asked. And he was replied by Alice who stood outside, “It’s Alice…” 

He opened the door and saw her clothes were rough, she came in and sat down while Billy shut the door thereafter.

He looked worried and already knew there was a problem, so he asked, “Where’s your dad?”. Alice looked up at him, and replied, “He’s gone… he asked me to come here”. Billy gasps, and replied, “Shan… he did it?” 

Alice nodded while Billy turned to his daughter, “Annie, this is your new sister… Alice”, he said.