The moment Embercore's hands ignited, the world erupted into fire.
It started with a blast—searing heat exploding from her palms in a plume of molten orange light. The nearby consoles melted like butter. The glowing stasis tanks cracked under pressure, leaking trails of strange chemicals that hissed against the fire. Glass shattered and lights burst from the sheer heat wave, plunging the lab into flickering emergency red.
Raj reacted first.
"Peter—move!" he shouted, leaping forward just as the fire roared toward them.
The blast singed his jacket, but it didn't harm him. The solar-charged cells in his suit absorbed the heat instantly, his skin shimmering gold for half a heartbeat as the flames licked harmlessly across his body. Peter, more vulnerable, flipped up to the ceiling, using his webs to stay above the growing inferno.
The lab's sprinklers kicked in with a metallic hiss, spraying down cold water that turned to steam before it even touched Embercore. It was like watching a walking inferno rise in defiance. Her face twisted with fury, eyes glowing the same volcanic orange as the flames erupting from her fingers.
"Hydra should've buried you," she spat, sending another wave of fire in Raj's direction.
Raj stood his ground. The fire curled around him, heat shimmering off his shoulders, but he didn't flinch. "Tried that. Didn't stick."
Meanwhile, Peter dropped from the ceiling toward Phaze, who had partially vanished into the floor like smoke slipping between cracks. "You really picked the wrong job, man," Peter quipped, firing two quick webs toward where Phaze's torso was solid.
Phaze shifted again—but not fast enough. One of Peter's webs stuck. He yanked, and the mutant stumbled halfway into full visibility, his face contorting with annoyance more than pain.
"You're annoying," Phaze said, his voice strangely hollow, like it echoed through an empty tunnel.
"Tell me something new," Peter replied, launching a kick at his chest.
Phaze turned to mist for half a second—the kick passed through—and then he reformed behind Peter with a short, brutal punch to the ribs. Peter rolled with it, coughing but managing to web himself back up to the ceiling beam, his mind already adjusting for Phaze's ghost-like mobility.
Meanwhile, Tempest had recovered.
Raj saw him rise from the debris—a tall, muscular man with electric-blue veins pulsing under pale skin. A jagged gash on his temple bled slightly, but it only seemed to make him angrier.
"I'm going to rip you in half," he growled, fists crackling with wind energy, a vortex forming in his palms.
Raj sighed. "Always with the drama."
Tempest hurled a pressure blast. It smashed a row of tables into twisted wreckage. Raj countered with a leap—vaulting over the attack and landing squarely between Embercore and Tempest, splitting their line of fire.
He didn't hesitate.
With one solar-powered punch, Raj drove his fist into the floor. The resulting shockwave knocked Tempest back into a row of tanks, shattering the glass. Embercore staggered sideways, her fire stalling momentarily as steam hissed around them.
"Peter!" Raj shouted. "Need a hand?"
Peter was webbing the room in calculated patterns, trying to trap Phaze in a zone of movement—but the mutant phased through the strands like mist through a net.
"I'm good!" Peter called back. "Just making friends!"
Phaze popped up behind him again—Peter ducked, fired a point-blank web shot to the face, and dove for cover. "Okay, maybe not great!"
Raj clenched his fists. He could feel the sunlight in his blood, like liquid fire. It thrummed with every heartbeat. Embercore roared and sent a molten spiral of flame toward him—he met it with his bare hands, absorbing the heat like a solar cell in overdrive.
"I get it," Raj said, teeth gritted. "Fire powers. But you're not the only one running hot."
His eyes blazed.
He lunged at her—not reckless, not blind. Strategic. Embercore tried to unleash another burst, but Raj ducked low, shoulder-checking her into the nearest wall. The impact knocked her breath from her lungs. He didn't let up—he slammed her down and pinned her arms, letting her flames erupt against his body to no effect.
"Yield," he warned.
"I'll burn with you!" she hissed, eyes glowing brighter.
Suddenly, Raj was yanked backwards—Tempest again. The brute tackled him with a full-body cyclone, driving Raj through a glass screen into another section of the lab. Sparks flew. Panels cracked. Raj tumbled through metal shelves, dazed for a split second.
Outside, Peter wasn't doing much better.
Phaze struck from below this time, grabbing Peter's leg and yanking him through the floor tiles. Peter flipped mid-air, launching another volley of webs in panic, but they missed. "Dude, you need boundaries!" he snapped.
Raj picked himself up and charged.
Tempest was powering up for another vortex—his palms whirled with electrical wind. Raj jumped straight into it, letting his own momentum overpower the burst. His fist, burning with solar energy, cracked into Tempest's jaw.
Tempest flew across the lab.
Raj staggered, panting. Embercore was back on her feet, eyes blazing.
Peter somersaulted beside him. "Hey, you look like you're having a blast."
Raj glanced at him. "Keep Phaze off me."
Peter gave a mock salute. "With pleasure."
They separated again, ready for round two.
The lab, meanwhile, was disintegrating.
The fire suppression systems had failed. The air was choked with smoke. Sparks burst from exposed wires. The tanks glowed and hissed dangerously, threatening rupture. One chamber—unoccupied—exploded in the corner.
And still, the fight wasn't over.
Raj charged Embercore again—no holding back. She retaliated, meeting his strike with fire and fury. The impact lit up the room like a solar flare. Behind him, Peter tangled with Phaze in a wild acrobatic exchange, trying to predict the unpredictable.
And in the chaos… something else stirred.
Unnoticed in the corner, a terminal screen blinked.
PROJECT: R-9 — STATUS: ACTIVE
RESPONSE INITIATED...