Scorch: New Enemies is a story by Telos, detailing a fight between Spook and Scorch, as well as the aftermath. It is the first in a ten-issue series, ending with the story 'Scorch: The Final Firefight'.
Chapter One[]
The chilly night air whipped Scorch's face as he bolted down the street at full speed. He could hear the shouts of police in the distance, but that only spurred him on. He would evade capture no matter what. The river beside him gleamed in the moonlight, and Scorch ran faster, rushing like a bullet through the neighborhood.
As he sped down the road, he noticed a bright flash of green in the trees. Odd. he thought. Suddenly, out of the tree glided a figure clad in an emerald garb complete with a flowing green cape. His slightly transparent skin was a pale green, and his dark hair matched his costume. Spook! thought Scorch.
The superhero Spook was well known throughout the city for his stunning heroics, but Scorch had never seen him for himself. Now Scorch would know if Spook was truly as tough as the rumors said.
Lifting his hand in Spook's direction, Scorch unleashed a burst of orange flame. The superhero dodged the attack, but Scorch sent another two blasts of fire in his direction. Spook avoided the first, but the second wave engulfed him. Take that! thought Scorch.
But Spook emerged from the flames completely unhurt.
"You must have heard that I can make things pass right through me. Unless I make myself solid again, you're fire will be useless!" said Spook with a grin.
Suddenly, Spook used an attack of his own. Spook reached out his hand, emitting a ray of green light from his fingertips that caught Scorch in the chest. Scorch felt the wind knocked from his lungs, felt his energy drain away. Gasping, Scorch shakily got to his feet. I'd kill for a coffee or a soft drink right now! he thought. Suddenly, a beam of light from a torch swept the area. He could hear the police louder now. They were very close, within 100 meters.
Those pesky cops! he thought. Throwing fireballs in Spook's direction, Scorch ran. Faster than before. It was the fastest he had run in his life, despite his low energy. He kept going, never stopping. Not when Spook flew after him, not when a bullet just missed his head. Never.
Chapter Two[]
Spook watched as his fiery opponent fled into the night. He commanded his weightless body to pursue, shooting more of his energy-draining green light as he went. Typical of villains, he thought. Spook went faster, reaching 20 miles an hour. He passed over Scorch, and landed in front of him. In doing so, Spook made himself solid again.
"You're not going anywhere, pal." Spook mocked.
"Is that so?" asked Scorch, as he blasted Spook with a barrage a fiery heat.
Burning pain wracked Spook's body as he watched Scorch flee into the distance. He dropped to the ground and rolled over several times in an effort to put out the flames. Spook's smoldering cape had turned a burned brown color due to Scorch's fire.
The sudden wails of sirens split the air as four police cars, five squads of policemen, an ambulance and a fire truck roared down the road. Shaking his head, Spook once again launched himself into the air in pursuit of Scorch.
Spook quickly caught up Scorch, his partially transparent body whooshing through the air like a see-through bird. Spook flew up alongside Scorch and began to fire more green light. Scorch rolled out of the way and sent a burst of fire in Spook's direction. Spook let it phase right through him.
"Just so I can mock you, what is your name? Flame-brain?" Spook said.
"For your information, it is Scorch. But you do not need to know this, because in a matter of minutes you will be dead!" yelled Scorch, launching a torrent of flames at Spook.
Spook could tell this was going to be difficult.
Chapter Three[]
The heat of Scorch's flames could be felt from over a hundred meters away. Grinning, he emitted more deadly heat at Spook, who simply let it pass through him. Suddenly, gunfire rang out. A bullet whizzed past Scorch, just missing his chest.
Eyes blazing with rage, Scorch turned on the police and their cars. He unleashed his full power, completely incinerating the cops and reducing them to charred corpses. Then Scorch annihilated the police cars, turning them into piles of flaming wreckage.
Returning his focus to Spook, he launched crackling yellow fireballs at his foe. Spook grimaced as streams of flame just missed him, but kept at his chase. Scorch suddenly stopped. He could no longer see Spook - he had gone invisible!
"What's up hot head? Can't see me?" taunted Spook's voice.
Scorch bared his teeth as he shot bursts of fire in random directions.
"Missed me!" mocked Spook as a beam of green light came out of nowhere. Once again, Scorch felt the unpleasant sensation of having his energy drained.
With a cry of rage, Scorch unleashed a sheet of flame that sizzled through the air. Spook reappeared, laughing, apparently unharmed. His laughter was cut short by another torrent of flames that burned and blistered his skin. Spook fell to the ground, barely conscious and screaming in agony.
Scorch prepared to finish him off, but the wail of many sirens could be heard in the distance. And there would most likely be many more police cars and squads than before.
Summoning his last remaining grains of strength, Scorch fled into the distance.
Chapter Four[]
The last thing Spook remembered was being blasted by Scorch. When he woke up, Spook was in an ambulance, traveling at high speed towards the city hospital. Two medical officers sat beside him in white uniforms. The logo of the hospital was printed in red letters on their shirts.
Spook was still dressed in his burnt costume, so he assumed he hadn't been unconscious for very long.
"Uhh, what happened?" asked Spook dizzily. His voice was raspy and dehydrated, and Spook suddenly realized how much his body hurt.
"We found you burnt and unconscious about half an hour ago. You have serious injuries, but after some recovery time in hospital you will be okay." replied one of the medical officers.
Spook moaned.
The interior of the ambulance was small, with silver-white walls and and single bed, which was occupied by Spook. There were two chairs, one on either side of the bed, in which sat the medical officers. There was a small built-in computer on the wall which presumably contained info about previous and current patients. Everything was white with a red cross.
The ambulance roared down the avenue, sirens wailing loudly. It sliced through the traffic like a knife through butter. The ambulance rounded corners, sped through intersections and shot down the highway at full speed.
After several more minutes, the hospital was in sight. Spook moaned again, then passed out.
Chapter Five[]
Scorch puffed heavily, his heart beating faster than a runaway train. He had run for five miles straight to his mansion, stopping only when he had an unbearable stitch. He walked through the remains of his old gate which had been blasted apart when Scorch couldn't be bothered opening it, and began to trudge up the path.
Old yet full of advanced technology, Scorch's mansion grounds spanned a massive twenty acres, allowing him lots of space to practice using his powers. Scorch's rust-orange boots clacked loudly on the stone steps leading up to his front door, and his long red cape billowed behind him as he strode forward to his fingerprint-scanner. He pulled off his glove and pressed his fingers onto the scanner.
"Access granted. Welcome, Scorch." a cool female voice said from the scanner.
The metallic door slid open with a soft whir, and Scorch stepped into the hall - the largest room in the house. He began the long walk to the end of the hall, where there were corridors leading to the study, library, dining room, the kitchens and seven different bedrooms - the biggest of which was usually occupied by Scorch.
Scorch stepped into one of the corridors and walked up a staircase. He navigated through the maze of his mansion, finally reaching his oversized bedroom. He sat down slowly onto his soft bed and removed his helmet, revealing the dark hair of Max Holmes. He lay down onto his silky pillow, shut his eyes and reminisced on his past two days...
It had started when Scorch accepted the bounty of $150000 dollars on a corrupt lawyer, obliterating him in his own house. It was not long before the cops traced the murder to Scorch, and had sent several squads of police after him. Scorch had run for miles, eventually reaching the river, where he battled Spook.
The temptation of blissful sleep reached out to Scorch, who had not slept for two days. He allowed himself to drift away, hoping tommorrow would not be as eventful.