Mother clay - chapter 3
The city outskirts of new Yasin were quiet.
Too quiet.
American Supergirl hovered inches above the ground, glowing faintly as she scanned the terrain.
"It's underground," she said. "The energy signature dips below street level."
Flame Boy crossed his arms, small embers floating around him.
"Or it wants you to think that," he replied calmly. "It's bait."
She rolled her eyes. "You think everything's bait."
"And you think everything's obvious."
A sharp click echoed from the bushes behind them.
Flame Boy's flames ignited instantly, bright and lethal.
"I swear if that's another engineered freak—"
"Don't," American Supergirl said quickly. "It's Road Ranger. I feel the energy."
Flame Boy didn't lower his flames.
"Nuh-uh."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
Golden lines flickered beneath his boots like faint highway markings.
"It's me," Road Ranger said flatly. "Obviously. Good job, American Girl. Least I expect from someone capable."
Flame Boy extinguished his flames with a flick.
"Cut the crap. What do you want?"
Road Ranger didn't react to the tone.
"Knighthood sent me. He wants this investigated properly."
He pulled a folded holographic map from his jacket. When it opened, glowing road-lines mapped the city grid.
"He retrieved this."
Flame Boy's expression shifted slightly.
American Supergirl crossed her arms.
"If he has a map of the so-called lab and actual intel," she said sharply, "why isn't he here himself? No offense, but this isn't a light errand. Are you good enough to run a mission with us?"
Flame Boy sighed and translated calmly.
"She means if Knighthood has information, why didn't he just come himself?"
Road Ranger's gaze didn't waver.
"Father is busy."
Silence.
The wind shifted.
Flame Boy and American Supergirl glanced at each other.
Right.
They always forgot.
Knighthood Squad didn't just follow him.
They were raised by him. Trained by him. Shaped by him.
Similar age.
But not similar presence.
Road Ranger folded the map.
"He said if Flame Boy is involved, the situation is layered."
Flame Boy smirked slightly.
"Layered, huh?"
Road Ranger stepped forward.
Golden road markings flickered under his boots.
"I can open a path down there."
American Supergirl tilted her head.
"And if it's a trap?"
Road Ranger's voice stayed even.
"Then we'll take the right exit."
A thin glowing roadway began forming beneath them, descending like a spiral ramp into darkness.
Flame Boy's flames ignited softly again — controlled, focused.
American Supergirl cracked her knuckles.
"Fine. Lead the way."
Road Ranger stepped onto the descending path first.
Without hesitation.
Without flair.
Just direction.
And the road swallowed them whole.
Underground pov:
Smack woke first
The smell hit him before his vision cleared.
Rot.
Wet stone.
Something sour and metallic.
"Ugh… what died?"
Purple fog rolled across the floor like living breath.
Phaser groaned. "Why is everything… violet?"
Crater sat up slowly. "…We're not tied."
They weren't.
No shackles. No ropes.
Just an abandoned underground structure.
Cracked pillars. Broken tiles.
Purple mist thick in the air.
And voices.
Whispers at first.
Then layered murmurs.
Then something else.
A distant shriek that didn't sound human.
Phaser swallowed. "Okay. I officially don't like this."
"Try phasing," Smack said quickly.
Phaser nodded and focused—
His body flickered—
A sharp click echoed through the chamber.
Red symbols lit up across the walls.
The purple fog intensified.
The entire structure pulsed.
Then—
A scream.
Not human.
Not animal.
It tore through the air like rust scraping metal.
The trio dropped to their knees, hands over ears.
From the far end of the chamber, something moved.
Slow.
Dragging.
Emerging from the mist.
It looked like a woman.
Almost.
Humanoid body.
Wings stretched from her back, thin and leathery.
Skin the color of unfinished clay.
Cracked.
Wet in places.
Her face—
Her eyes glowed a sickening pale green.
And her hair…
Snakes.
But wrong.
Half-formed.
Like sculpted clay that never fully hardened.
They twitched unnaturally.
Organic.
But not biological.
Phaser's voice trembled.
"What are we fighting?"
The creature's eyes locked onto them.
Crater reacted on instinct.
A solid wall of energy slammed into place in front of them.
"Move!" he shouted, slapping both of them hard enough to snap them out of the paralysis creeping up their limbs.
The creature floated upward.
Its wings didn't flap.
It just hovered.
Then with a stretch of its claws—
The wall shattered like brittle glass.
The trio dodged as debris rained down.
Phaser grabbed them both and phased just in time, the claws slicing through where they had stood.
They reappeared behind a collapsed pillar.
Phaser's heart pounded violently.
"Okay—okay—she can turn us to stone. That scream messes with our bodies. She flies. She has claws. What else am I missing?!"
Crater inhaled sharply.
"Medusa."
Smack blinked. "What?"
"I watched a mythology compilation yesterday," Crater said quickly. "Documentary stuff. In the myth, Medusa can petrify you with her gaze. Snakes too. But look at her."
They peeked around the pillar.
The creature turned slowly.
The snakes looked unfinished.
Half-sculpted.
Some didn't even move correctly.
"Those aren't fully real," Crater whispered. "They're incomplete. Like she's manufactured."
Smack clenched his fists.
"So burn her."
Phaser nodded.
"Yeah. Clay hardens or cracks under extreme heat, right?"
The creature screeched again.
The trio ran.
The gorgon pursued, gliding through the air.
They started noticing patterns.
When they ran too far—
She screamed.
The sound locking their muscles briefly.
When they got too close—
She stopped moving.
Staring.
Waiting for eye contact.
Phaser breathed hard.
"She wants distance control."
Crater's mind raced.
"She's programmed. Distance-based reactions."
Smack looked back.
The creature floated silently now.
Watching.
Waiting.
Phaser swallowed.
"…I have an idea."
The three leaned closer as the gorgon's wings twitched in the fog.
Pov of shifts to flameboy
The underground entrance was farther than expected.
The tunnel stretched long and narrow, the air thick with chemical dampness.
Flame Boy sighed.
"Great. A horror basement."
American Supergirl smirked. "Scared?"
He didn't answer.
Instead—
His body ignited.
Flames wrapped around him smoothly as he shifted into his full flame-state, lighting the tunnel in orange.
American Supergirl grinned.
"Ah yes. Mr. Lighter mode."
Road Ranger stepped closer without reacting to the heat. Golden lines flickered faintly under his boots.
He pulled out a cigarette.
Held it toward Flame Boy's shoulder.
It lit instantly.
He inhaled once.
"Good job."
Flame Boy stared at him.
"…You serious right now?"
Road Ranger exhaled smoke calmly.
"You were already on."
Flame Boy rolled his eyes and dimmed slightly.
After a few seconds of walking in silence, Flame Boy spoke again—quieter this time.
"How's Knighthood?"
Road Ranger didn't hesitate.
"He's good."
A pause.
"So are you. In his eyes."
Flame Boy's flames flickered unevenly.
"Pretty sure he wouldn't say that."
"He doesn't blame you," Road Ranger replied firmly. "I insist."
Flame Boy looked away.
"Then why does he still wear the armor?"
Silence.
American Supergirl glanced between them.
Flame Boy continued, voice sharper now.
"He only puts that armor on when he thinks he failed."
Road Ranger's jaw tightened slightly.
"He wears it because the world is heavier now."
"No," Flame Boy said flatly. "He wears it because of me."
Road Ranger stopped walking.
"He doesn't."
"He does."
"He doesn't."
The tunnel trembled.
A distant scream echoed from below.
All three froze.
Flame Boy's expression shifted instantly.
"Trio."
They burst forward.
Road Ranger opened a descending golden roadway mid-air.
American Supergirl dove first.
Flame Boy followed in a streak of fire.
They emerged into chaos.
Purple fog.
Collapsed pillars.
And the clay-winged gorgon mid-screech.
The trio scrambling beneath it.
Flame Boy's eyes burned.
"…Not again."
He didn't wait.
He raised one arm—
A blast of high-temperature flame exploded outward, slamming into the creature.
The clay body cracked instantly.
The snakes ignited.
The gorgon shrieked in distortion as flames consumed it.
"Flame Boy—!" Crater shouted.
But he wasn't listening.
He stepped forward.
Flames intensifying.
"You three can't go one week without triggering something ancient or engineered!"
"Flame Boy!" Phaser yelled.
The purple fog around them began reacting.
The fire wasn't just burning the creature.
It was heating the air.
Gas.
Invisible.
Unstable.
Smack's eyes widened.
"Oh no—"
Flame Boy's flames surged hotter.
The chamber vibrated.
American Supergirl shouted—
"Flame Boy, stop!"
Too late.
The gas ignited.
A chain reaction flashed across the ceiling—
Phaser reacted on pure instinct.
He grabbed everyone.
Phased.
The explosion swallowed the chamber in a blinding inferno.
But they weren't solid.
They became part of the atmosphere itself.
The underground structure collapsed inward.
Fire.
Stone.
Purple fog.
All erased.
Seconds later—
They reappeared above ground in a rush of air.
Behind them—
Nothing.
The entire underground section had caved in.
No lab.
No creature.
No evidence.
Silence filled the night.
Flame Boy turned slowly to face the trio.
His flames dimmed.
Controlled again.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Listen carefully."
The trio stood stiff.
"You are not heroes yet."
His eyes burned brighter.
"You are content creators with powers."
American Supergirl didn't interrupt.
"You want to help?" he continued. "Then train. Learn. Understand the weight of this world."
He stepped closer.
"Until then?"
A beat.
"Stop chasing clout."
The wind moved through the trees.
Road Ranger watched silently.
American Supergirl crossed her arms.
The trio stood there—
Not burned.
Not hurt.
But humbled.
And for the first time—
Quiet.
This is the turning point.
After that the group walked alone
The night felt colder walking away from the ruins.
No one joked.
No one filmed.
No one spoke.
Finally, Carter tried.
He nudged Smack lightly.
"Hey… you were like Hercules back there. Standing in front of the gorgon like that? That was insane."
Phaser nodded. "Yeah. You tanked that scream for us."
Smack stopped walking.
The others slowed too.
He didn't turn around at first.
Then—
"I'm quitting."
Silence.
"What?" Carter laughed nervously. "Bro, don't be dramatic—"
Smack turned.
His eyes weren't angry.
They were tired.
"We've been a team for a month."
He gestured vaguely behind them.
"All we've done is make a joke of ourselves."
Phaser stepped forward. "That's not—"
"It is."
His voice didn't rise.
That made it worse.
"I don't want heroism to be seen."
He clenched his fists.
"I want just heroism."
The words landed heavy.
Carter tried to grab his shoulder.
"Smack, come on—"
Smack shoved him back.
Not brutally.
But enough.
Phaser moved in to stop him—
Smack knocked him aside too.
Controlled.
Precise.
Not rage.
Decision.
"Train without me," he said quietly.
Then he walked away.
The other two stayed on the pavement.
Stunned.
Later That Night
Smack walked alone.
No cameras.
No commentary.
Just streetlights and distant sirens.
That's when he saw him.
A frail man collapsed near an alley.
Breathing weak.
Shaking.
Smack rushed forward immediately.
"Hey— hey, can you hear me?"
He knelt beside him.
No hesitation.
No audience.
Just instinct.
From a rooftop across the street—
A passing hero paused.
Watching.
Nodding slightly.
That's real heroism.
Smack leaned closer.
"I'll get you help—"
The frail man's hand shot up.
Too fast.
He grabbed Smack's collar.
Before Smack could react—
The man crushed a glowing crystal in his palm.
Purple shards exploded into dust—
And he forced it into Smack's mouth.
Smack choked.
"What—?!"
The dust burned down his throat.
The man's weakness vanished instantly.
His eyes glowed faint violet.
"Great power," he whispered.
Smack staggered backward.
His veins pulsed purple.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
The world warped.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Energy surged violently from his body.
The frail man smiled.
"Let's see what you become."
Smack screamed—
Not in pain.
In transformation.
The streetlights shattered.
The air bent.
And his shadow stretched unnaturally long against the buildings.
Chapter the ended
(Get ready for chapter 4 it will be cool and you guys would love the fight and yeah I will introduce knighthood their for first time I don't know if he would be loved but I hope)