Titan's burden
Paragon stood alone at the edge of the blackened crater, battered and still, his breath fogging in the early dawn. The sea lapped quietly at the ruined shore. Overhead, the sky was bruised with smoke and the faint, fiery trail of something massive arcing away from the city.
He could see it even from here: the mothership, burning, spiraling, falling. But not toward him. Not anymore.
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### Halcyon, Industrial Sector
Titan's boots hammered the concrete as he sprinted down the length of a deserted freight avenue, his massive frame scattering loose crates and sending sparks from the steel decking. Alarms wailed through the city's industrial heart—red lights spinning, warning klaxons echoing off glass and metal. Above, the mothership's shadow eclipsed the skyline, its descent a slow-motion disaster.
He didn't slow. He couldn't. The ship was coming in hot, its trajectory set to flatten half the sector. Titan ducked beneath a sagging power line, vaulted a railcar, and skidded to a halt in the shadow of a loading tower. The ground trembled as the mothership's engines guttered out, fire trailing from ruptured thrusters.
Titan glanced up, jaw set. He could feel the heat already, the static charge in the air. He rolled his shoulders, braced his feet, and waited.
The mothership slammed down, crushing steel and concrete, its mass pressing the city into the ground. Titan was there to meet it. The impact drove him to one knee, the world narrowing to a tunnel of noise and pressure. His hands locked onto the hull, fingers digging into the alien alloy. The pavement beneath him fractured, spiderwebbing out in all directions.
For a moment, he was buried—just another piece of debris in the chaos. But then, with a guttural growl, he forced himself upright. The ship shuddered, metal shrieking as he pushed back. Muscles bunched, veins standing out along his arms and neck. Sweat and blood ran down his face, stinging his eyes.
He shifted his stance, boots skidding through broken concrete, and began to lift. Inch by inch, the mothership rose. Titan's breath came in ragged bursts, every muscle screaming in protest. The city around him seemed to hold its breath.
He pivoted, planting one foot deep into the shattered street, and with a final, agonized roar, he hurled the mothership skyward. The vessel tore free, trailing fire and debris, climbing above the skyline in a slow, impossible arc.
Titan staggered back, chest heaving, arms trembling. The ground where he'd stood was cratered, steel and stone fused together by the heat and pressure. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, watching as the mothership cleared the city, its burning silhouette shrinking against the dawn.
---
Paragon watched the distant sky, the faint glint of the mothership's hull catching the sun as it vanished into the upper atmosphere. He let out a slow breath, shoulders sagging. Even from miles away, he could feel the aftershock—a tremor running through the earth, a ripple across the sea.
He knew who was responsible. Only one person could have pulled that off.
He turned away from the crater, the world eerily quiet around him. For now, the threat had passed. But the city was still standing because Titan had been there to bear the weight.
Paragon looked north, toward the distant skyline of Halcyon, and allowed himself the briefest flicker of a smile.
---
Titan stood alone in the ruined street, surrounded by the wreckage of factories and the echo of alarms. He flexed his hands, feeling the ache deep in his bones. Above, the sky was clearing, the mothership gone, the city saved.
He didn't wait for applause. He just started walking, slow and heavy, deeper into the industrial maze2 days later titan and paragon were brought to the hospital
Two days after the devastating battles, both Titan and Paragon were admitted to the hospital for treatment and recovery.
Titan lay in a specialized medical wing within Halcyon's industrial district hospital, his massive frame occupying a reinforced bed designed for heroes of his size. Doctors monitored his vitals closely—his muscles still tense from the immense strain of catching and throwing the mothership. Though slower than the other top heroes, Titan's body had endured tremendous trauma, with deep bruising, muscle tears, and exhaustion evident. Medical staff worked tirelessly to stabilize him and manage the aftereffects of his near-superhuman exertion.
Meanwhile, on the deserted island, Paragon was airlifted to a remote medical facility equipped for high-level trauma care. His wounds from the battle with Kharon and the impact crater were severe but healing steadily. Despite his resilience and rapid healing factor, the toll of the fight and environmental damage required close observation. Paragon's recovery was monitored by specialists familiar with enhanced physiology, ensuring no complications arose from the extreme forces he had endured.
Though separated by distance and circumstance, both heroes shared the same grim reality: their bodies were pushed to the limits, and the war was far from over. The hospital stays offered a brief respite, but the world watched and waited, knowing that soon they would be called back into the fray.