Fine Lines: Burn Outs #2

by Dani Hermit

  Thomas figured the car could hit Curtis on its own now if it just went straight so he started to jump out, except his legs wouldn’t move. He, like Curtis and Colton, was pushing himself far beyond the practiced limits of their old rehearsed fights and discovering the drawbacks of his powers. It was like the muscles in his legs were blown out. Getting out of the car wasn’t a possibility. Even moving his foot to hit the brakes wasn’t happening. He was committed to this now. Thomas ducked his upper body as low as he could behind the dashboard and braced for impact.

  Curtis yelled at the glowing eyed behemoth headed straight for him. “Hey stop! I have a kitty in my pocket.”

  There was no time to get out of the way but he had to try. He turned his back, scooping up the kitten. Holding Boris as close to his chest as possible, Curtis dodged. If the car was going to injure him, it would crush Boris. Curtis tried use the air to absorb some of the impact as he had done with Thomas’s punch but he still got clipped while using his body as a shield for the kitten.

  As Curtis was thrown, the car didn’t quite explode so much as shake apart. Thomas got banged up as the SUV careened to a stop, flinging pieces in all directions. He ended up laying half in, half out of the rubble, unable to move. The radio still blasted happily as if it had never been damaged.

  Curtis worried his leg was broken but his first concern was the kitten he’d cupped in both arms to protect. He opened his arms. “Run, little kitty. Go somewhere safe until it wears off.”

  Blue goo vial in his mouth, Boris the Kitten took off as fast as his little legs would carry him, into the cornstalks where a little black cat would be next to impossible to see.

  Curtis struggled getting up off the ground. Maybe not broken but his leg was definitely fucked up. He could barely stand on it. “It’s time to get what I came for. Mythos, your messiah is calling you. Your master is waiting for you to be by his side. So c'mon, Evans. You’re the only thing between me and my goal. Unless you’re more concerned with getting Tommy there out of the way of that jeep and the nasty gasoline smell coming from it. He might need some help.”

  “Fuck,” Matt was cradling Colton, who was still somewhat out of it.

  The ice was gone. His skin was back to normal color. But Matt didn’t dare leave him, even to rescue Thomas. Where was Boris? Something had happened in the cover of the cornstalks while he was distracted. But the throbbing music was feeding his power. He might not need to get near this asshole to end him. He had to be careful not to fry Thomas though. Fire attacks plus leaking gasoline weren’t a smart combo.

  Curtis moved in a way that showed he was trying to hide a limp. “So, like I’m not joking.” He was coming closer. “I really think he needs help and don’t count on Boris. He’s out of commission.”

  “Save Thomas.” Colton seemed a bit more coherent. He lay a shaking hand against Matt’s face. “We love him too.”

  “Dude, you’re killing me,” Curtis called out. “I am supposed to be the bad guy here. But even if I wanted to, I can’t get to him in time.” Curtis was starting to have a tantrum. He was here to retrieve Mythos, not murder Colton’s friends.

  Matt reluctantly let go of Colton, and made a rush for Thomas, squelching out his flames because Curtis was right. The fuel tank had come apart and there was gasoline everywhere around the wreckage. Matt grabbed Thomas’s arms, dragging him away from the SUV.

  “Help me out here, Loser. Can’t you walk? Did you do something to your legs?”

  “I think our powers are doing some weird shit, partner. I may have pushed myself a little to hard.” Thomas was grateful but annoyed he couldn’t help. “My legs don’t want to move. Is everyone else OK?”

  “I’m fine, for the most part. Colton’s not great and I have no idea where Boris is,” Matt informed him as he shifted his hold on Thomas, pulling him up onto his back so that he was carrying him more than dragging him. Matt pulled Thomas’s arms around his neck. “Can you at least hold on or did you fuck up your arms too?”

  “Doesn’t seem like my whole body’s affected but it’s not cool.” Thomas clung to Matt. “I thought I heard a cat’s meow in between blaring songs. So he must be somewhere as Cat Fight? Should you have left Colton?”

  “He told me to save your sorry ass, and you know there’s no arguing with him.” Matt put Thomas down on the edge of the corn, well away from the pool of gasoline. Matt’s mind was already figuring out how to use that to his advantage. “And if Boris is in his other form, he’s probably humping a woodchuck or something by now. He’ll turn up sooner or later.”

  “I’m not gonna be able to help much. I know you kind of hate him, but if he needs help Matt...” Thomas gripped Matt’s arm. “All joking aside, I really like Boris. Like, I like like Boris. So just, you know, make sure he’s clear of whatever wreckage I fear you are about to make of my car.”

  Curtis stepped cautiously forward as Colton got to his feet. “Looks like it’s just you and me. I don’t understand why you are choosing this. But our boss-man has a gift for you despite your unthinkable betrayal, Mythos.”

  A tiny ball of black fluff appeared from seemingly nowhere between Curtis and Colton, hissing and spitting at the taller man. Boris bared his tiny claws and took a swipe at Curtis’s ankles as he tried to take a step closer to Colton.

  “I told you to run away, little kitty.” Curtis wasn’t all that concerned about a tiny ball of fluff, teeth and claws aside. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out Leo’s gift for Mythos. “I need to finish this before anyone gets really hurt.”

  Colton stumbled forward. “That’s all any of you do. I’m going to stop it now.”

  Curtis was impressed and it showed on his face. “You still don’t know you’ve lost, do you? Stop being silly. If you hadn’t run away, none of this would be necessary.”

  Colton scooped up the kitten, trying to protect him from Curtis. “I didn’t run away. He left me to die. That’s the kind of guy your boss-man is. So why should I doubt you’d kill any one of us?”

  Curtis turned the wooden shard over in his hands. “No, that doesn’t make any sense. He would never do that.”

  “That’s exactly what he did.” Matt was there now, both hands flaring to life with bright flames. “Put Colton in a deep, dark hole with no food or water or light. If he wasn’t Chosen, he would have been dead before I found him.”

  Matt didn’t turn his head to look at Colton when he spoke to him. “Get behind me, Pony.” He caught movement in Colton’s hands out of the corner of his eye. “Dear god, please tell me that’s Boris. That’s fucking priceless. Can you take him over to Thomas while I deal with this prick?”

  “Okay, Ham-Ham. Be careful.” Colton not knowing exactly how to treat kitten Boris, cooed at him and gently held him against his shoulder. “It’s okay. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Boris mewed pathetically, his pride completely deflated. As Colton hurried to Thomas, Boris watched as Matt called up a huge amount of fire, covering his entire body in bright yellow flames. He tried to warn him that was the worst idea when fighting Dark Mirror, but all that came out was a squeaky yowl that couldn’t be heard by anyone other than Colton over the still blaring music and roar of Matt’s flames.

  “This ends now,” Matt snarled, bracing his body for a quick, destructive attack.

  “I don’t think it does.” Curtis had had just enough time to taste Colton’s power. He dealt Matt a more devastating blow than he even knew. “I doubt you can save anyone. I doubt you will even be able to hold that flame. I doubt that fire will burn me if you hit me.”

  “I doubt that you know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Matt snapped back, but he felt the words sink into his skin. It felt like Colton’s power, but not quite the same. He shook his head, trying to throw off the uneasy feelings settling over him. It wasn’t helping but Matt just had to focus. He had a job. One simple job. Stop this creep from getting to Colton. Easy.

  Probably.

  “You don’t seem very s
ure, Mr. Hammer.” Curtis continued to send his bastardization of Colton’s power at Matt. “I doubt those flames will hurt anyone but you. I doubt you know how to handle the kind of power you’ve summoned.” He wondered how many of them he could control with this very raw, exhilarating energy. “I doubt you can stop Mythos from walking straight to me right now.”

  “COLTON isn’t going anywhere with you,” Matt responded, trying to ignore how hot his skin was feeling. It was nothing. He’d never been burned by his own flames. It wasn’t possible. He had control. But he still felt himself pull back, turn down the intensity a bit. Just in case.

  “Colton. Mythos. Whatevs.” Curtis shrugged. “Look here he comes.”

  “Sit the fuck down, Pony.” Matt called out, not looking where Curtis was pointing.

  He had to attack. He had to do it now, before his flames burned out entirely. He was hesitating too long, using up too much power all at once. Even the intense sound waves were not enough to fuel what he was pushing out. And they wouldn’t last forever. He had to stop running in circles in his head and attack. Drawing a deep breath, Matt pulled even more fire out of his body, burning nearly white hot. The ground at his feet began to shift, the heat from his flames turning it to something like lava.

  “I doubt you are aware you are about to burn yourself alive if you don’t stop right now.” Curtis pushed on as Colton ran between them.

  “Stop hurting him.” Colton put his hands out as if he could stop Curtis’s assault. “I’ll accept the gift. I’ll go with you. Just let him be.” Saving Matt was the most important thing but having seen what Curtis was doing with his power, Colton questioned what else it could do and began preparing a sneak attack of his own.

  “Well, that would make my job easier. You take this, uh, penis of promise from the boss-man and I’ll convince Matt he isn’t frying, OK?” Curtis held out the wooden symbol.

  “I’m fine, Pony,” Matt insisted, drawing out more power. “Get out of the way before I hurt you.”

  He took a stumbling step forward, but the power was maxed and the movement unbalanced it. It spiraled around Matt, tearing at anything within reach. Matt’s hair, clothes, then his skin. The grass, the dirt. It even reached out towards Colton, but retracted as the last sparks of power were taken from Matt. He was screaming as fire poured from his throat and he fell to the ground, looking like he had been partially barbecued.

  “Matt!” Colton cried out but Curtis grabbed his arm and pulled him close.

  “A deal’s a deal. I doubt you know that you will be healed in an hour’s time.” Curtis was talking to Matt as he tried to keep hold of the squirming Colton. “I doubt you will be happy you’ve lost Colton. I doubt you’ll ever find him.”

  Colton had never used his power to truly hurt anybody ever. He’d always been careful and precise. Even now, he couldn’t bring himself to mortally wound Curtis. But even if it hit his soul hard, Colton was about to use his vast knowledge of the history of Heroes and Villains and his careful observation. Curtis was one of the generation that the Priests had taken a lot of chances with and created a lot of hot messes. Having been in and out of rehab for most of his adult life, Colton assumed that Curtis was primed for a psychological attack.

  Colton summoned his power, his eyes glowing, and Mythos quiet for once. “I believe you should have never been born. I believe the world would be a better place if you just disappeared and so does everyone else!”

  Matt felt and heard everything that was going on. He knew that in an hour, he’d be ready to chase after Colton and get him back. But even with that knowledge, he couldn’t move his body now. He was damaged, defeated, and utterly lost.

  But just maybe Colton lashing out with his Mythos power would be enough to buy them time. He might be able to keep Curtis busy long enough to cut off quite a bit of his head start. At least, Matt prayed he could. Because so much was depending on Colton and his ability to actually fight right now.

  Curtis gripped Colton tighter and leaned his head back and cackled. He was very practiced at pretending he was fine when he wasn’t. “Tell me something I don’t know.” He twisted Colton’s hand and stabbed it with the wood. “I bet that would have been a fantastic move on anybody but me but too bad for you I know exactly what I am.”

  Colton’s cruel choice was already a powerful invitation for Mythos to crush him but the power from the piece of the St. John’s Cross that Blue Bolt had first used to show him freedom was exhilarating. Mythos pulled the vaguely phallic-looking wood out of his palm and dragged it across Curtis’s cheek, leaving a line of his blood on Curtis’s skin.

  “Take me back where I belong. You can at least do that right.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Everything still ached but Matt was able to move. He assumed it had been an hour because he wasn’t covered in burns anymore. He was starving and exhausted like after one of the Priest-Healer’s intensive sessions where they accelerated a Chosen’s naturally enhanced healing to a terrifying level. Matt always hated those and avoided the Priest-Healers as much as possible.

  He pushed himself up off the ground. It was slick and hard underneath him, having solidified after he partially melted it. Matt tried not to think about that right now. He had never burned that hot, had never felt that much power, and hoped he never did again.

  “You dead, Loser?” Matt asked, surprised to find that his voice worked.

  Assessing himself, he determined that he was going to need new clothes if they were going anywhere civilized. He kicked off his one half-melted shoe, wondering where the other one got to. His jeans were mostly intact, and his t-shirt was full of holes, with one sleeve gone. Matt left it on, but he wasn’t sure why. It was useless.

  “Hey, Loser,” Matt called out again, concerned because Thomas hadn’t answered him.

  This time, he got an answering mew from the little black kitten that was probably Boris. The ball of fluff was standing on Thomas’s chest, licking his face and making sad little sounds. For a moment, Matt feared the worst.

  “I hurt all over.” Thomas moaned. “But I’m breathing.”

  He could feel his legs which was a vast improvement from them not responding to his brain but they were covered in the feeling of pins and needles from the top of his thighs down. His hand was comically large for the small kitten as Thomas pet him.

  “Oh, hey little guy. Where’d you come from?” Thomas used his elbows to prop himself up. “I don’t suppose we won and Boris took Colton on ahead while we recovered?”

  Thomas has passed out from pain as his legs went from can’t feel them! panic to did I break every bone? agony. He assumed that he had missed the good part of the fight where they won and everything was OK. He hugged the kitten close, enjoying it’s warmth before holding it up and nuzzling it with his nose as he continued to talk to Matt.

  “Cause I’d have left my sorry ass behind if I could have run for it. Yes I would, yes I would.” Thomas reverted to baby talk with the kitten.

  Matt shook his head. “We got our asses kicked bad, buddy. Colton’s gone with that overpowered freak.” He pointed to the kitten now trying to bite Thomas’s face. “And I’m pretty sure that’s Boris.”

  “Oh. OH!” Thomas held the kitten a little further from his face. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea. I promise we will never speak of this again.” He just couldn’t stop himself from adding in more baby talk. “Despite how adorable you are right now and how bad I want to squish you.”

  Getting back to business, Thomas held Boris in one hand as he stood up. “Oh, that sucks. Remind me never to do that again. What do you mean Colton left with him? Did that little idiot bargain for our lives or something? Never mind. I’ll give him shit later. Which way did they go?”

  “Not sure.” Matt could feel his temper starting to build. Now that he knew the three of them were alive, he had the luxury of rage. “I didn’t see or hear a vehicle. They obviously didn’t take ours.” Matt gestured to the sad pile of parts that used to be Thomas’s SUV
. “And I doubt that they walked from here to Chicago. On the upside, we do know that is where they are going.”

  “Right, Chicago, and where are we now? Somewhere, Indiana, right? So, maybe they stole a tractor. Could we steal a tractor?” Thomas studied their surroundings. “I think there’s a small town back that way. We’d lose about twenty minutes going in the wrong direction though. But I saw farms. So, again I suggest stealing a tractor. Or horses maybe.”

  “Did you hit your head?” Matt was starting to get really pissed and, lacking a viable target, he turned on Thomas. “There’s no fucking way we’re getting all the way to Chicago on a tractor. And I’m not stealing a horse. Do you even know how to ride a horse?”

  Kitten Boris made a yowling sound, trying so hard to communicate with them to no avail.

  “You’ve upset Boris. You don’t have to yell.” Thomas scolded back. “I’m trying to think of ways to catch up before they get to Chicago and become a needle in a haystack. I could try to give us all super speed and we could run?”

  “You can’t hand out powers like that,” Matt snarled. “You boost me and I’ll set this whole field on fire. You boost Boris and I guess he’ll yak up a huge hairball or take an epic nap.”

  The kitten hissed at Matt.

  “Fuck you! You have no idea what I can do. I’m more than just your sidekick. But that gives me an idea. What if I could amplify Boris into a bigger cat? Like a tiger or a jaguar? We could ride him to Chicago.” Thomas held up Boris triumphantly.

  “You’re not actually He-Man, you know that right?” Matt snapped. “And how long do you think Boris will stay like that? An hour, maybe two? Not long enough to get us anywhere. IF he would even agree to any of it, which he can’t like that.”