Or beautiful.
After all, that was the reason why Winter’s mother named her after snow, because a snowy landscape was one of the most beautiful things in the world to her mom. And after centuries of not being able to have kids, Winter’s existence was beyond precious to the half-Filipino werelion she affectionately knew to be her mother.
So…maybe a cyclone of death?
Or one of destruction?
Or could it be something more figurative like a swirling force of peace?
And how in the hell could a ‘cyclone’ devour a ‘tower?’
It was just a bunch of bullshit.
Unexpectedly, everything around her began to rattle, the massive window before her vibrating. For half a second, she was shocked by the earthquake, only to abruptly realize it was far from a natural phenomenon.
Her head snapped to the side when, in the corner of her vision, she witnessed before her a massive pillar of fire erupting straight upward into the sky as a brilliant blinding light chased after it, swallowing it up in barely the blink of an eye. And then it was gone, replaced with a haze in the air. She stared at it in disbelief, completely dumbfounded by what she’d just witnessed, almost wondering if she’d imagined it.
But she knew she hadn’t.
It was real.
Seconds later, and her phone was vibrating on the bedside table.
She quickly rushed over to pick it up.
“Winter Fowler,” a familiar woman’s voice said automatically. “We desperately need your help.”
Winter’s pale green eyes widened, as her mind began making the connections, prompting her to look back over her shoulder at the haze in the near distance.
Concentrating as hard as she could, everything unexpectedly clicked into place as her power was drawn into a mind she’d latched onto just days ago.
And suddenly, she knew what her answer must be.
“No,” she said firmly, her gaze shifting upward to the brilliant orange sunset, the colors enhanced by the dust in the air.
Winter paused then, with the person on the other end silent, likely shocked by her refusal.
Was this really it?
After all this time, was this really the path she was meant to take?
She knew it was. Now that she’d seen the sign, her indecisiveness was gone. Her instincts were confirmed. Really, she knew this was right from the beginning. She was just waiting for confirmation.
And now she had it.
She completed her statement.
“You don’t need my help,” she continued. “But he does.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
April 13, 2735 – Current Day – Evening
The temporary horror, induced by the desolate scene before me, was immediately replaced with overwhelming relief when I met two separate amethyst gazes, both of them equally horrified – both of them surrounded by blue flames, burning brightly in the sudden twilight, yet somehow completely untouched by the heat.
It was like they were literally sitting in the middle of the proverbial burning bush, completely ablaze but not consumed by the omnipotent flame.
And then, I noticed more blue flames in the distance, with more and more humanoid shapes coming into focus.
Everything was gone.
But the people remained.
A fire that destroyed everything , except that which I valued above all else. An explosion that burned everything , even metal, yet spared what I treasured.
A force of destruction that obeyed my will.
It was then, that I knew I did have Lily’s pyrogenesis, but I also had pyrokinesis .
I could only assume they both came from her, with one being completely untrained and untested. But just like I removed the limitations of this body’s ability to regenerate, it appeared I must have done the same with Lily’s power.
At least, that was the only thing that made sense in that moment, as I tried to piece it all together.
As far as I could tell, the only people who were truly gone was the suicide bomber and those who had been immediately around her. Maybe ten to twenty people total. Everyone else appeared to be alive, assuming they hadn’t died previously from being impaled with metal rods.
Even the body next to us was still mostly there, minus the guy’s head, which had been vaporized.
I also still had Lexi’s phone in my hand, likewise untouched, but it was completely dead.
Heidi was sitting up now, looking like she was shell-shocked, as if she was so beyond stunned and traumatized at this point that her ability to process the situation had just shut down entirely. At the very least, she didn’t seem to notice the blue fire still covering her body. But after meeting my gaze, her face scrunched up and she practically flew into my arms, clinging to me as she began hyperventilating again.
I wasn’t sure if she understood my role in what just happened, or if she simply thought that a bomb had detonated, and I simply protected them from it – nothing more.
Lexi followed suit, hugging both me and her younger sister, both of them trembling violently. The other victims in the area were having various reactions, some of the freaking out about the blue fire that still clung to their bodies, while others were too shocked to even process anything beyond the empty wasteland.
Then there were others who ignored both, focusing on trying to get their friends or family to safety.
The three of us ignored them all, just clinging to each other while activity slowly increased in the area. No police though. No superheroes either.
Was anyone coming?
It seemed like forever before I noticed someone quickly approaching us, running at normal speed, his body alight with blue fire.
“Lexi!” he called out, prompting her to pull away when she recognized the deep voice.
It was Tyrone, the guy with dark skin and curly hair – the one who turned out the lights on me just a few days ago to show me his ability to manipulate radiation.
“Tyrone?” she said in confusion. “Why are you here?”
He laughed, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “You’re my partner in crime! And you know my wife is your biggest fan. She’d kill me if she knew you were hurt, and I left you hanging.”
“But where are the police?” Lexi pressed. “EMS? Where’s the CDS’s emergency response team?”
“They’re here,” he reassured her, only to wave his arms. “But they’re freaked out by this fire. Anyone who comes within a certain distance of the explosion lights up. They’re coming now though.”
And sure enough, nearly a dozen men were heading vaguely in this direction. Two of them had guns and were dressed in riot gear, leading the group, while four more were EMS, and the rest appeared to be a mixture of police and firefighters.
All of them were on fire, brilliant azure flames clinging to their bodies.
They immediately began focusing on the injured, the ones who were struggling to hang onto life after being impaled by metal rods. At the same time, the two men in riot gear began moving closer to where the suicide bomber had been, the ground being unmistakably different than everywhere else.
Despite the fact that a separate explosion came from me, the ground near the bomber was somehow…shinier. Like, it was as if the ground was covered in a silver powder, with dust visibly falling in the air, concentrated within ten feet of where the bomber had been.
Tyrone continued. “They were too uncertain about the fire until I got here. I had to reassure them that it was doing something good.”
“Something good?” Lexi repeated, only to look up at me.
But I had no idea what it was doing. Honestly, while I had no doubt it was coming from me, I wasn’t exactly controlling it consciously either. It was more like, it was its own separate existence , like a fiery wisp responding obediently to my protective desire.
An instinct.
“Yeah, it’s burning something up,” Tyrone continued. “Like, I don’t know what it is exactly, but I can see
something in the air, and the flames are burning it up.”
His eyes narrowed then as he focused more intently around us, only for a look of shock to cross his expression as he looked in the direction of the two men with guns.
“Wait!” he called out urgently.
Unexpectedly, the blue flames began to sputter around the guy in front, only for him to immediately drop to the ground dead.
“Radiation!” he continued to yell. “Get back! It’s too late for him! Get back!” He focused on the others. “Hurry and get the victims out of here!”
“Radiation?!” I said in alarm. “Like a nuclear bomb?”
Lexi’s eyes were wide. “No, that’s impossible. It must be…” Her voice trailed off.
“Shit!” Tyrone said, only to speak louder, yelling at the men. “Polonium! It’s a polonium bomb! Get everyone out of here, now !”
“What’s going on?” I asked urgently. “What is that?”
“The most radioactive substance on the planet,” Lexi said in shock. “And the kind used to create this type of chemical weapon is the worst. Just the tiniest bit of polonium dust is enough to kill you. And the air…”
“The air is full of it,” Tyrone agreed urgently. “Which means I need to get you out of here right now, before this fire disappears.”
“Take my sister,” Lexi begged. “Sam can help me walk.”
“No!” Heidi unexpectedly shrieked, her voice breaking as she clung to me even tighter.
But the truth was, I wasn’t certain I could help with either of them. I focused on Lexi.
“I don’t know what will happen if I move from this spot, and I need you to get out of here safely.”
“Sam,” Lexi said in a pleading tone.
We didn’t have time to waste.
My tone was firm as I looked up at Tyrone. “Look, I’m the one producing these flames. So I need you to get them out of here.” His eyes widened in shock, but I ignored the reaction as I looked back down and continued speaking, my tone harsher. “Lexi. Heidi. Go. Now .”
Heidi tried to resist, but I wouldn’t have it.
“Now , Heidi. I’ll be okay, but you might not be. Get out of here now . Help your sister,” I added. “She might not be able to walk.”
Heidi looked up at me with a tormented expression, prompting me to grab her face in my hands, focusing on her intently. “Heidi, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, for everything. But I need you to focus. Focus on saving your sister. She’s in danger of dying. So, take a deep breath, and get to work .”
I could see the unstable look in her lavender eyes begin to shift, as I used the same command I’d given her previously, three months ago, when her older sister was on life-support. She was trembling as she pulled away, her arms and legs shaking as she tried to stand up, but Tyrone helped her get to her feet, and then the two of them helped Lexi stand.
I tried to remain calm as they began walking away, trying not to panic at my lack of control over what was happening…
Trying not to think about what would happen if the blue flames covering them unexpectedly sputtered and went out…
But that didn’t happen, and once they were gone, I was relieved, feeling free to experience the sensation within myself and all around me. Stretching out a few of my astral limbs several hundred feet into the distance, as far as they would reach, I realized that my second-sight’s capacity to see went even beyond that. In fact, my second-sight stretched all the way to the edge of the desolate wasteland, as if the initial white flames I created wouldn’t go further than that distance. It also meant I might see a person on the edge one moment, only for them to vanish, as if they’d entered a blind spot the second they went too far.
And within that space, from here to there, I had a powerful perception of the people who existed within it. Granted, now that quite a bit of time had passed, I was mostly alone, though there were still occasionally people crossing that threshold, for one reason or another, with my blue flames igniting on their bodies.
It was like a reflex.
An instinct.
I felt the danger and my azure flames reflexively swallowed them up without consuming them, burning away the hazardous material that threatened to kill them instantly. Although, I doubted there was much danger at the edges, since I capped off the top of the explosion. In fact, I was pretty sure there wasn’t much danger at all fifty or so feet beyond the center of the detonation, with the vast majority of the polonium resting in a thick layer within ten feet of the explosion.
Still, I waited until people in hazmat suits began showing up before intentionally trying to pull back on the reflexive response, since it shouldn’t be necessary anymore. But that didn’t stop my own body from remaining ablaze, as I got up and started walking in the direction Lexi and Heidi had gone.
When I got to the edge of the devastation, I saw crowds and crowds of people, along with ambulances, fire trucks, and police cruisers all over the place, as if every single emergency response vehicle in the entire city was somewhere on the perimeter.
And really, that probably wasn’t far from the truth.
Even though the bomb explosion I had seen in a vision, just before I did something about it, was more than twice as big as the one I’d actually created, the area of destruction was still massive. And out of everything that had happened thus far, this was probably the most significant event.
The mall attack was child’s play in comparison.
Thankfully, between all the activity, and the fact that most everyone had blue flames on them earlier, no one paid me any attention. However, I didn’t see Lexi or Heidi anywhere. I knew they should be fine, and I knew the smart thing to do was for them to leave the area entirely, especially since Lexi needed medical attention, but still.
I was anxious again.
Tyrone was someone Lexi had obviously known for a while, so I knew I had no reason to worry, but I couldn’t help the unease beginning to plague me. And it wasn’t like I could have gone with them. Without knowing ‘how’ I was doing what I was doing, it was too risky. Because if those flames went out, Lexi was a goner, and probably Heidi too.
It wasn’t until a familiar voice called out to me that I felt a little bit of relief, though unfortunately it wasn’t who I was hoping for.
Jackie Hendricks was waving her arm at me, having paused once she spotted me. “Sam!” she called again, prompting me to turn fully toward her.
It was strange, because the middle-aged woman with brown hair and green eyes, who looked more like she was in her mid-thirties than mid-forties, was dressed the most casual I’d ever seen her – just jeans and a dark gray t-shirt.
She began walking again when she saw I noticed her, with me jogging up to meet her.
“Are Lexi and Heidi okay?” I asked urgently. “They went with Lexi’s coworker, Tyrone.” I immediately felt kind of stupid, because of course Jackie would know who that was.
She nodded reassuringly. “Yes, I sent them to the hospital with a couple of guards over a half-hour ago. And Tyrone is over there,” she added, pointing to my right.
Sure enough, I spotted him a good hundred feet away, standing amongst four officers. I sighed heavily in relief, focusing on her again. “Now what?” I asked seriously.
Her expression became more serious. “Well, thankfully this has all turned out differently than I assumed it was going to.”
I gave her a confused look.
She grimaced. “When you said ‘bomb,’ and then when the call disconnected, I assumed the worst – that everyone was dead. That you’d be the only one left.”
I mimicked her expression, grimacing as well.
“But thankfully, that’s not what happened. And since there’s polonium everywhere, you’re also off the hook for the explosion too.”
I looked at her in total shock. “What are you talking about?” I said in disbelief.
She frowned. “Unfortunately, considering the level of destruction here, this is the type of situation that might have
caused legal action against you, pending an investigation into what actually happened here. You’d be taken in, interrogated, and held indefinitely, until they could prove you were innocent.”
My eyes widened in shock. “The James Willard Act,” I replied quietly. “Guilty until proven innocent.”
She nodded, grimacing again. “Your newly obtained Immunity probably would have spared you, in the end, but it wouldn’t have prevented them putting you through hell first. However, most of the destruction is property damage, and with the presence of polonium, coupled with eye-witness reports, this has turned into something else entirely. You’re a hero, though of course no one will ever know about your involvement, per your privacy preferences.”
I nodded in understanding, having no problem with that. “So now what?” I asked a second time. “Because this can’t happen again. This has to stop.”
She nodded. “Now, I need you to come to the office with me, so we can go through a detailed rundown of what happened. We’ve also got people talking with Lexi and her sister, though of course Lexi’s medical care comes first. After that, we’re going to double our efforts on hunting this terrorist down. All we need is the right lead to nail him, and we’ve recently had a valuable asset agree to help with this case.” She paused to reach into her pocket for her phone. “But enough of that for now. I assume you might want to call home, so you can use my phone. And we can talk more at the office.”
“How’d you know mine was broken?” I wondered while accepting her offered device.
“Everyone’s phone is dead,” she explained. “Anyone who was in the blast zone has a dead phone. We can’t be sure at this point, but my suspicion is there was magnetism associated with the explosion – whether that came from you, Lexi, or the bomb, I don’t know.” She paused, glancing around. “Now, let’s go.”
I followed her over to a couple of guards in riot gear, both of whom appeared to be waiting on her, and then to a building where we took an elevator to the roof. On the way, I went ahead and called Freya, giving her a quick rundown of everything going on.
Needless to say, she was frantic.
Enough so, that she decided to take drastic measures until we had a better idea of the current situation.
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 15