The private elevator was a lot bigger than Star-Strong was expecting, but it was also faster than he thought. They were zooming up in no time. He cracked his knuckles.

“Hey, Max?” Morph asked nervously.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say...thanks.” he said quickly. Max smiled.

“Don’t mention it. That’s what heroes do, after all. And what are we?” Star-Strong asked. Morph tilted his head.

“Huh? Um, heroes?” he said. Star-Strong scowled.

“Not like that! Don’t ask me, tell me! We’re HEROES! What are we?” he said excitedly.

“Heroes.” Morph said, turning red in embarrassment.

“Nah, with feeling! What are we?” Star-Strong asked again. Morph rolled his eyes.

“Heroes!” Best just to let him win for now.

“Yes! Not just that, we’re SUPER-HEROES!” Star-Strong cheered.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to Knightsbridge’s executive office, from a partition in the wall. Star-Strong strode to the man in the chair, turning to face them.

“Knightsbridge, you’re under arrest-”

BANG!

The figure turning in the chair revealed not Knightsbridge, but a placid Nicholai instead, half-emptying a revolver into Star-Strong’s gut. They bounced off his abs.

“You done?” the giant grunted, feeling less than a bugbite.

“Yes, I did have to try.” Nicholai said politely, placing the gun precisely on the desk and standing up. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nicholai, buying time for my employer while he escapes, as per the duties of a well-paid bodyguard.” He leaned around Star-Strong to a paralyzed Morph, staring at him in abject terror. “Hello, Jason. It has been some time, has it not?”

Here he was. He was here. Here. Here here here here here.

Star-Strong’s cape flapped in front of Jason’s face, knocking him from the cobra-trance.

“What do you want with him?” Star-Strong growled.

“Just to say hello. That is the courteous thing to do, correct? Just because I stabbed and shot his mother does not mean I cannot show proper etiquette. It is unfortunate that we had to meet in this manner, but that is simply the way of things.” he said brightly.

Star-Strong looked down at this strange man, eyebrow raised.

“You're a weird one.” Faster than a bullet, his arm threw a mighty punch into Nicholai’s face. He held back enough to not kill him, but he’d fly into the opposite wall. That was the plan, until his fist stung.

“Ow!” He stared at the bizarre sight, his right hand covered in cuts and blood. He recoiled in horror as he saw Nicholai’s face.

It was gone, his head unwinding and spooling into a dark, reddish mass of squiggling, writhing mass of what looked like thread. Max thought he was going to be sick. The undulating mass was hideously, almost incomprehensibly wrong.

Thankfully, the rest of his head unraveled and the eerie visage was dispelled.

“It will not be that easy, Mr. Star-Strong. I too have worked with Dr. Thunder, and received the miracle of superpowers. We managed to complete several based off the Proteus serum, but that is nothing compared to what the boy wields. If you would be kind enough to return him?” the tangled mass of thread said, oddly tinny and echoing.

“Go to hell!” Star-Strong shouted, throwing a roundhouse kick into Nicholai’s ribs. And immediately pulled back, red lines on his boots.

“Not very sharp, unlike my body. You see, I can shift my form into a thread-like substance and control it as easily as my body, because it is. I have perfect control over it, and though you are quite durable, even you cannot prevent your molecules separating.” Nicholai pointed his hand at Star-Strong, and his fingers unraveled into string, piercing into his shoulder.

Star-Strong flexed to try and stop the attack, but only succeeded in tearing his flesh more, the threads sinking deeper and thrashing around. He grunted in pain as Morph watched in terrified helplessness.

“I believe that I need a more appropriate appellation now. It seems that Unravel suits me best.” the newly-christened Unravel said, doing just that. His entire upper body unraveled, writhing and flowing like thousands of thin tentacles, all tipped with points sharp enough to pierce anything.

“Hut!” Star-Strong ducked, kicking Unravel’s torso into the wall, not bothering to hold back. Reminded him too much of Quasar. The villain exploded into thread, then pulled together into human form almost instantly.

“Punches, kicks, weapons. It does not matter. What can mere force do against string, after all?” he said, smirking with wide eyes. He shot forward and rolled on the ground, unspooling into thread that grabbed and bound Star-Strong’s wrists together, his legs morphing to wrap around his throat. But it wasn’t a quick, clean kill, no; Unravel pulled together slowly, torturously slowly, tighter and tighter, slicing into the skin, the blood vessels, the nerves.

“Eurrg!” Star-Strong winced in pain, the fibers of Unravel thinning and dividing between his molecules. His head and hands would be cut off in mere moments, if he didn’t decide to extend the agony.

Star-Strong breathed in, deeply. Kibvaughn wouldn’t be daunted by something like this, no matter how dire. Calm down, calm down, think. Mere seconds before he would be dead, if he struggled it would merely be faster. He had the same type of power as Jason, and so the same limits and rules applied. He eyed the room. Bookshelf, potted plant, desk, chair, filing cabinet, liquor cabinet-there!

“Morph! Grab the vodka!” Star-Strong said. Morph dashed over to the cabinet, turning to stone and smashing it open, grabbing the alcohol.

“Now what!?”

“Get ready!” Star-Strong pressed his hands on the desk. The solid walnut desk. He grinned. “Eat this!”

He vigorously wiped back and forth at incredible speed. He ignored the pain, gritting his teeth with the effort to move as fast as possible. Such was the power and speed of those arms it erased the varnish, exposing the rougher wood. He rubbed and rubbed, the friction building more and more, the desk starting to smoke...until it burst into flame.

“Yowch! Now!” Star-Strong held his burning hands away from him, and Morph poured the vodka on the villain, bursting into greater flame and making Unravel jump off, his thread-like body covered in 90% proof alcohol.

He shifted back to human, but the fire still covered him. The sprinklers went off, and he stopped, dropped and rolled, finally dousing the blaze.

“Huff...huff...you-” He didn’t get a chance to finish, because Star-Strong knelt down, flicking him in the forehead. It felt like a shotgun. Unravel collapsed, unconscious.

“Holy crap…” Morph said, poking the assassin. “You...set him on fire.”

“Only thing I could think of that’d work.” Star-Strong said tiredly. All these fights were taking it out of him. His stomach growled, but he bucked up and pressed into his wrists and neck, the molecules separated so cleanly they could be pushed back together. “Too strong and dangerous, and creepy. Couldn’t hurt him any other way. Besides, makes it kinda even for what he did to your house.” he said ruefully, going over to the bookshelf. He hadn’t missed where the smoke had been flowing.

With a single punch, Star-Strong obliterated the shelf, revealing a staircase. A helicopter could be heard approaching the roof. That was probably Knightsbridge’s escape plan. Max clenched his fist. That bastard wasn’t getting away.

“You ready?”

“Yeah.” Morph said darkly. While Star-Strong was opening the way, he didn’t see Morph pocket Nicholai’s revolver. He would have his revenge.

His jaw set, Morph joined Star-Strong up the stairs to the roof, haunted by scenes from his nightmares. Then Star-Strong grinned and elbowed his ribs.

“Hey. I totally rubbed that wood until that flaming guy got off.” he snickered. Morph stopped, openmouthed.

“Gah...whuh...buh…” were the only noises he could make. “You...that was on you!”

“Hmm. You could say that I had a self...burn?” Morph groaned and slapped his forehead into his hand. Star-Strong laughed uproariously as they went up.