H.E.R.O.: Dark Breach

By Kevin Rau

Following on the heels of H.E.R.O. - Malice, Carey and Ironsite Security's experiment has unexpected results. A virus has been let loose on the super population, as has a mysterious energy rift near the center of Metrocity. Supers find themselves mutating further, with some powers enhanced and others reduced. The heroes become absorbed in an attempt to determine what occurred.

Carey becomes a victim of her own experiment as she mutates into a super - a fire elemental. She goes through her own challenges as Ironsite Security covers their tracks. Another person arrives in Metrocity with powers outside the norm for supers. Not a super himself, Blake finds that the experiment caused a breach into the Dark Energy universe, and is able to directly manipulate the energy that gives supers their powers, but for how long? He takes a dark path in an attempt to stabilize and grow the powers at his command.

The book continues the H.E.R.O. novel series with detailed viewpoints from the characters in the story as they deal with issues at a personal level while attempting to maintain some semblance of normal lives.

H.E.R.O. - Dark Breach is the 13th book of the ongoing H.E.R.O. series, and is approximately 108,000 words long.

Also written by Kevin Rau - the H.E.R.O. series:
H.E.R.O. – Metamorphosis (1)
H.E.R.O. - New Markets (2)
H.E.R.O. - Rise and Fall (3)
H.E.R.O. - Dark Research (4)
H.E.R.O. - Horde (5)
H.E.R.O. - Paragon (6)
H.E.R.O. - Illustrated Guide
H.E.R.O. Shorts – Gatecrasher (7)
H.E.R.O. Shorts – Silverlash (8)
H.E.R.O. - Gene Front (9)
H.E.R.O. - Incursion (10)
H.E.R.O. - Dolldrum (11)
H.E.R.O. - Malice (12)
H.E.R.O. – Dark Breach (13)
H.E.R.O. – Nightmonger (14)
H.E.R.O. – Battlefronts (15)
H.E.R.O. – Riftguard (16)
H.E.R.O. – Augments (17)
H.E.R.O. – Summoned (18)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin Rau
• Release date: Mar 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310780288

Kevin Rau

Born in 1970, I've been interested in fantasy and science fiction since perhaps the age of 10. I believe my love of medieval knights came about when my father built a wooden shield and sword for me to use in elementary school for some event.Through my school years I read hundreds (or thousands? - it's hard to recall at this point) of fantasy and science fiction novels. Comic books and super heroes came a bit later, although I recall seeing the Christopher Reeve Superman movies at a very young age (and loving them). Since my later teens I believe I've watched nearly every major fantasy, science fiction, and super-hero movie that has come out.I still love reading fantasy and science fiction, although I wish there were more novels based on superheroes. This is something that drove me to create my own supers universe and heroes in written form. I love supers, but I've always wanted more character depth than a comic book can provide. (Not to mention the immense length of time it takes for a comic series to do a story is just plain too long to me.)Writing is a hobby for me, I'm a full-time computer programmer and systems administrator for a small company. Fortunately the skills I've learned allow me to work with 3D programs to render the characters (and covers) for my books. My hope is to put out a novel or two a year, time allowing. At this point I'd like to grow the H.E.R.O. Universe with more novels, as well as start a fantasy series at some point.

Book preview

H.E.R.O. -

Dark Breach

Kevin Gerald Rau

H.E.R.O. – Dark Breach

Kevin Rau

Copyright © 2013 by Kevin Gerald Rau

Published at Smashwords

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to the online store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Editors

Frankie Sutton

Kimi Johnson

All characters are original and fictional. Any likeness to real people is purely incidental. Cover created by Kevin Rau.

Also written by Kevin Rau - the H.E.R.O. series:

H.E.R.O. – Metamorphosis (1) - free on most e-book vendors online!

H.E.R.O. - New Markets (2)

H.E.R.O. - Rise and Fall (3)

H.E.R.O. - Dark Research (4)

H.E.R.O. - Horde (5)

H.E.R.O. - Paragon (6)

H.E.R.O. - Illustrated Guide

H.E.R.O. Shorts – Gatecrasher (7)

H.E.R.O. Shorts – Silverlash (8)

H.E.R.O. - Gene Front (9)

H.E.R.O. - Incursion (10)

H.E.R.O. - Dolldrum (11)

H.E.R.O. - Malice (12)

H.E.R.O. – Dark Breach (13)

H.E.R.O. – Nightmonger (14)

H.E.R.O. – Battlefronts (15)

H.E.R.O. – Riftguard (16)

H.E.R.O. – Augments (17)

H.E.R.O. – Summoned (18)

Other Novels by Kevin Rau:

Necromancer’s Ascent (World of Dur)

Want more information on Kevin's books? http://www.kevinrau.com has information on the author's novels, as well as images of the H.E.R.O. superheroes and villains.

Feel free to like the author's page on Facebook, and to ask questions or make comments! http://www.facebook.com/herobooks

Chapter 1 – New Mutation

Black Tiger's Viewpoint

Nighttime, one emergency averted, and criminals still felt the need to commit crimes. Two of our hero girls were badly injured in Razorwing’s new Overwatch penthouse, and I would rather stay and watch over my injured girlfriend than go back out on patrol, but Spartan wanted us to be out there helping people.

It felt to me as though half the heroes of the city were dead or down from the last few weeks since the last meteor shower mutated my friends and me. Brawny Sonic and Elastiburn had left the city, ticked off at those of us who had joined the ranks of the heroes as soon as we had changed. Ninja Tiger died at the hands of extreme mutants. Gatecrasher went on hiatus in the Rockies after he lost his arm to those same mutants. Big Man, Watermane and Atomizer fell while fighting against the alien Kurcet. I supposed that I should include Fluff in there, since Rayna felt as if her floating monster pets were people. They did speak, so there was something in that orb-like body of theirs. Razorwing and Diva were already doting on those hurt tonight, including Psystar and Rayna, so Spartan and I responded to the emergency call.

I leaped off the rooftop of the twenty-four floor building, southward toward the twenty-story building across the street in downtown Metrocity. Spartan’s large form bounded right off the skyscraper. He went up and out rather than just down due to his super-powered jumping ability. His cape flapped in the wind behind him. I landed in a crouch, jogged to the far side of that rooftop, and then leaped down to a fifteen-story building south of that. One more jump down seven stories, and then I was able to leap the final eight floors to street level. The fall hurt my thighs as usual, but my healing rate was so fast that they healed in seconds.

Navigating the buildings took longer than I would have liked, being my first time jumping down from the Overwatch. I hadn’t taken the time to map out the fastest route to the ground from the Razorwing’s penthouse yet, and as I fell the remaining distance to the street, I made a mental note to do so. I tapped the event on my H.E.R.O. phone to bring up the map, and took off sprinting toward the south.

I moved over 60 miles per hour, making it an interesting trip. I ran in the street, as I didn’t want to accidentally bump into a pedestrian at those speeds. I leaped up and bounded off several big trucks and a semi, and once used the horizontal pole of a traffic signal pole to swing over a crowd of people crossing the street. I coughed occasionally as I ran. It couldn’t be a cold, so I assumed it was due to the fumes of a few vehicles, and yet I felt unusually hot.

I saw Spartan’s bright red and yellow costume pass on my left down a street, although the event on the phone was for a cash and carry place just ahead. I stopped at the door of the shop, opened it, and looked inside. A woman working at the counter saw me and ducked behind the counter.

I said, I’m Black Tiger, from H.E.R.O.

She poked her head up over the counter and pointed toward my left. She’s getting away with the money!

I nodded and sprinted down the sidewalk after Spartan. I assumed he had a handle on the perpetrator, as he was using short-range skip-jumps to close the distance to whoever did it. He rounded a corner, and when I hit the same corner about two city blocks behind him, I saw a car turn left. The tires squealed and he reached the vehicle.

Spartan landed just ahead and left of the vehicle. He reached out for the car and the person put their hand out toward him, palm first. Rings of a nearly transparent shockwave blasted up and out at him, and he was thrown off his feet and into oncoming traffic on the left side of the street. A pickup truck swerved to avoid him, and its rear quadrant smashed into the heavy hero. It stopped on Spartan, and the hero lifted the truck off him and set it to the side.

I sprinted past him, and the woman used her hand to blast at me several times. The rings of the shockwave were small, perhaps two feet in diameter by the time they reached me, and I had no problem dodging each time. Behind me, the side of a bus crumpled in from the blast, and a sidewalk garbage can flew back to crash against the building wall from the waves.

My ten-foot tentacles extended from my trapezius on either side of my neck as I ran, and I leaped at the back of the car. The black talon at the end of each tentacle stabbed through the rooftop and I landed on my feet on the trunk. The woman driver glanced back, aimed her hand and blasted again. I dodged the first, yanked out one of my tentacles, and she fired another time through the roof and window of the car. This one hit me in the leg with a punch like a brick, and my thighbone snapped. I was knocked off my feet and my torso slammed onto the trunk, while my feet dragged on the street for a moment as I clung to the car by the remaining tentacle.

Spartan landed just ahead and left of the car again. This time, he grabbed onto the rooftop and planted his feet. The car top tore off, and both Spartan and I were left behind.

I grimaced and held my injured leg, and then glanced at him. Don’t rip off a rooftop while I’m holding onto it, dude.

He shrugged, Oops, sorry. He coughed loudly a few times. The power of his lungs made the noise echo through the street. I raised an eyebrow. That can’t be a coincidence. He looked back at the car and leaped after it again.

I pulled my talon free of the metal, stood, and ran after him. My speed was much slower with the injured leg, and the woman hit Spartan with another shockwave, throwing him back to crash on the sidewalk. He was on his feet quickly, and leaped after the car again.

It took us several minutes to gain on the woman as she sped through the city streets. Another coughing fit struck, and I missed seeing the criminal send another blast toward me. She hit me again in the left shoulder with her shockwave, knocking me over and tripping me. I hit the ground and rolled for a few dozen feet. My leg was nearly healed, but it felt like she had shattered my shoulderbone.

I rolled to my feet, gritted my teeth against the pain in my shoulder, and sprinted after her. I was a few dozen yards behind her car when a large SUV next to me swerved into the lane I was in. The driver either couldn’t see me, or wasn’t looking, and the front tire ran over my left foot. It tripped me, but the person continued swerving into the lane I was in and completely ran over me with the back tire. The car behind him honked.

I said, Are you flipping serious?

Fortunately, a two-ton vehicle wasn’t too bad against my five-ton strength, and it merely delayed me for a moment while my fast regeneration took care of the foot injury. I saw the woman’s car just ahead. The cars in the area ahead of her had slowed down due to a stoplight, and she was forced to stop.

She turned and looked at me. I leaped onto her car and grabbed her left shoulder with my right hand. My finger talons went into her muscle without resistance. She grimaced, coughed, and put up her right palm to blast another shockwave toward me. Darkness gathered about her for a moment, and then the blast came at me. I went to punch her with my left arm, but the injury there hadn’t healed yet. I cringed at my shoulder pain, and then the ring-like effect came.

It was huge this time, several feet in diameter even at her hand, and when it hit me, I felt as though Spartan had punched me full-bore with his 50 plus tons of strength … with both fists. I flew back through the air and crashed into a parked car, which was also moving backward as though struck by a moving wall. It embedded me in the vehicle’s engine and I was stunned for a brief period.

I shook my head to shake off the effect and snarled in anger, and then had a coughing fit. I forgot to watch how I moved my left shoulder, and felt as though I was stabbed for a moment from the injury. It angered me, and I growled as I crumpled the hood of the car’s engine under my hand to pull myself out.

My blood lit on fire, and everything went dark for several seconds. I growled at the pain and felt bones pop uncomfortably all over my body. My costume felt tight as vision came back to me, and the pain in my blood faded. A moment later, I realized that my shoulder hurt less than it had.

I glanced at my left shoulder, and noticed that my arm was black rather than the normal pink color. I stopped moving and stared at my arm. A thin layer of black hair, or fur, now covered my bare arm, from the short-sleeve of the costume down to the fingerless gloves I wore. The tattoo of the demon and the dragon on my arm were no longer visible, and the talons that tipped off the end of each finger were now even longer than before.

The sensation of fire faded quickly from my blood, as did the pain in my shoulder. Then, a scream came from my right. I looked over to see a woman screaming and pointing at me. I shrugged and held out my hands.

What?

It’s a monster! She turned and ran off down the street. The others in the area stopped and stared at me.

I asked, What’s her problem? Something was off about my voice, and I caught my reflection in the window of a car. My face had gone black as well. I approached the car and stared at myself. I looked almost like a werepanther, a man with cat-like features and thin black fur.

I ran the upper, non-talon part of my fingers over my lower face. It had definitely changed shape. Even with my mouth closed, my canines were visible. It was the weirdest thing ever.

I remembered thinking back when I first changed that I didn’t want to become a werewolf. This was almost as freakish, although it at least fit my superhero name.

A massive explosion came from ahead, and the corner of a building blasted outward in my direction. Bricks and glass flew over the sidewalk and vehicles on the street, and people screamed and took off running in all directions.

I sprinted in that direction. Bits of debris floated down from the damaged building, and several car horns went off from the vibration. I ran past the criminal’s car; she had abandoned it.

The street to the left was a disaster zone, with all of the vehicles mashed up in a pile. I saw the woman sprinting about a block down the street, but heard a man groan, so I glanced at the vehicles. People were in some of them, and many were crushed to varying degrees. Several people began screaming for help, and I saw a few others slumped over with blood on them.

I swore and looked over the vehicles, found the ones with the most damage, and ran over to help. I pulled my H.E.R.O. phone out of my belt, and using my knuckle, I tapped the screen to call in several ambulances.

Then, I went about freeing the people from the vehicles. Most of them were trapped, and a few were injured from the steering column or door crushing in on the person.

I tore the door off a car, when I heard a loud thump behind me, and Spartan dusted himself off and looked around.

He saw me and asked, Where is she?

I shrugged. She got away. I figured it was better to help the injured than capture her. Did she shoot a gas main or something?

He shook his head and moved over to help with the vehicles. No. Her first blasts were little shockwaves. This last one was massive. I was thrown back through the building. It actually hurt. The first few just knocked me back.

Damn it. I hate seeing one get away.

No. Help these people. Now, what the heck happened to your face?

Don’t know. I’ve never had this happen before.

You kind of look like a werewolf, but more like a cat.

Yeah.

Spartan tapped his phone to call in an agent, and we pried vehicles apart and started freeing people until the ambulances arrived to give medical attention to the injured. Agent Carson arrived after about fifteen minutes.

I said, Yo, Carson.

Spartan nodded to him. Good to see you again, Agent Carson.

Agent Carson stared at me for a while, and then asked, That’s new. Have you been doing this for the last three weeks?

I shook my head, First time for me. Any thoughts?

No. I’m aware of a few others who look animalistic like that, but it’s permanent.

The thought of permanently looking like a catman struck me, and a shiver went down my spine. Oh, crap. You’re kidding me, right?

He shook his head, Sorry, kid.

I put my hand on my head, This sucks. I better not be like this all the time.

I’ll hope that it doesn’t stick. So … where’s the perp?

She got away.

Wow, you both failed to catch a perp?

Spartan said, She was taking it easy with those shockwave blasts at first. The last two were really big.

I nodded.

Agent Carson said, She? Do the blasts look kind of like circles projecting in a cone out from her hand?

They do.

That would be Kinetika. She’s never had a large blast that I’ve heard of before. It’s more like a punch to a brick.

Spartan nodded, Yeah, that’s what the first few were like, up until this last one. He waved his hand at the building nearby. It had massive cracks in a large section of it, all of the windows were blown inward on this side of the building, and a chunk about the size of a pickup truck had come off the corner of the building.

Agent Carson whistled. That’s a big step up for her. She piled up all these cars as well?

Yeah. Same blast that hit the building hit these.

Hmm. Something’s up. I’ll put a note in her file, but this doesn’t bode well for lone heroes going after her.

Spartan’s phone rang. He answered, Spartan here.

I heard Special Agent Willman say, Spartan, this is Special Agent Willman of the F.B.I. You’re immune to fire, correct?

Yes sir.

Would you help us on the east side of Metrocity? River district, about a mile north of the Tower Bridge. There’s a big fire going on here. Firefighters are inside, and we’ve seen bodies. There may be survivors.

Be right there. I’ll call Firebane for you, too. She can put the fire out.

That would be great, thank you.

He hung up and looked at us.

Sorry guys … gotta help the F.B.I. You got this, BT?

I glanced at Agent Carson. Can you handle this?

He stared at me, and then said, I can’t bend car parts. Help get these people out. I looked back at Spartan. Fine. Go on.

He nodded, looked at the two streets leading east and south to pick a path, and leaped high into the air toward a building top.

Chapter 2 – The Fire Inside

Spartan’s Viewpoint

I leaped up to a building top, and then to another taller building. I was in a rush. If what Agent Willman said was true, then they needed me there quickly.

I still had my phone out, and while I sailed through the air on a large jump, I called Firebane.

I thanked the stars that she answered quickly, Hello?

Firebane, this is Spartan. We have a fire to put out; people are caught inside. Will you help?

Sure. Where is it at?

East side, near the river, a mile north of Tower Bridge.

Okay. It’ll take about fifteen minutes to get there, plus a few to change.

Can I pick you up?

Oh, God, you want to fly me?

Come on, people’s lives are at stake.

Ugh. I hate you. She hesitated a moment and then continued, Fine, come pick me up. I’ll quick change. Texting you my address now.

Thanks.

I hung up, and a moment later, the text came through. I pushed the underlined text, and the map came up with her location. At the next building, I changed the direction I leaped to head toward her house on the north side of downtown.

A coughing fit overtook me mid-flight, and I stopped on a twenty-story building for a moment. The dust from that darn building must still be on me. The sound echoed down between the buildings and street. I felt hot, and leaped again.

I almost overshot the next building. I was getting hotter, and my muscles felt sore, as though I were in the midst of a hard workout. I stopped for a moment to gauge the next jump better, since I was about to go through the skyscrapers downtown, and leaped.

I completely overshot the next building by about thirty feet. I glanced back at the large rooftop as I passed by it, wondering how I screwed up the distance that badly, and put my legs forward to land against the wall of the building across the street. Fortunately, my legs softened the landing and no damage was done to the building. I was about a foot away from a large window. I shuddered to think about going through that into someone’s apartment. Then gravity took over, and I fell to the ground.

I shouted, Look out below! Incoming hero!

Downtown wasn’t as busy after 9 P.M., and the only person in the area below glanced up and dodged to the side. I crashed onto my side, and the concrete sidewalk shattered under my six hundred pound body weight. I wished I were as agile as Black Tiger. I could have caught myself and done a soft landing. I stood up and dusted myself off.

The man stood and stared at me. Are you all right?

I nodded, Just bruised my ego. I’ve got a fire to put out, have to run. Sorry about that.

Good luck.

I ran around the corner to the next street aiming toward Firebane’s house and leaped toward a building top with slightly less push than I normally would. I was prepared to hit the side of the building, but sure enough, I went further again, and landed on the rooftop. I shook my head and frowned. I wondered if being hit by the shockwaves made my jumping more powerful, much like fire did. The strange thing was that I didn’t have any yellow fumes coming off my costume.

I took shorter leaps on my way to Firebane’s apartment building, and all of the jumps went a little further than they normally would. I still felt unusually warm and sore.

Firebane ran out of the building in her fire-patterned spandex workout outfit and tennis shoes. I smiled. I knew that she didn’t want to get into fights, so I supposed that paying the five thousand dollars for a self-repairing costume made little sense.

I held my hand out to her, and she gulped and went pale.

I said, We’ll land softly. I won’t allow any harm to come to you.

She took a deep breath and walked up to me. I’m more worried about the ground’s thought on that.

I scooped her up with my right hand, and she decided to wrap her legs around my abdomen and bury her face against my chest.

She said, I don’t want to see, and it feels like I’ve got nothing to hold onto when you just hold me. Also, I might yack on you.

I shrugged, Okay. I felt slightly uncomfortable having a woman who wasn’t my girlfriend put her legs around me, but I bit my lip and looked toward the east.

I leaped with less than normal oomph again, and we properly landed on the rooftop. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to re-learn all of my jumping distances again.

I coughed and leaped again, and in a few leaps, we made it to a warehouse next to the river. I glanced down at Firebane, but she had her face covered. I grinned and took a few deep breaths. Then, I sprinted toward the edge of the rooftop and leaped hard.

As we flew through the air, my cape flapped loudly behind me, and Firebane lifted her head.

She said, What are we doing? Urk! She slammed her face against my chest again. I hoped that she didn’t break her nose; it wasn’t as though my chest muscles had any give to someone as weak as she was. I thought I heard her say, I’m going to be sick. I hoped she was overstating the situation.

To the left of where we would land was a building on fire, slightly hidden by a pair of warehouses closer to the river. We landed over one hundred feet further than I expected, and nearly slammed into the wall of a warehouse building. My legs absorbed all of the impact from the landing, as usual, and we didn’t even move past where my feet touched down.

I said, We’re nearly there.

She moaned as I leaped up onto the warehouse just north of us, and saw a lot of damage on the rooftop. It had a large hole in it, as though supers had been fighting. I also saw a pool of blood drying off to the left.

The fire lit up the small factory ahead and right of us, and I jogged to the edge of the roof and leaped down near the fire trucks.

I said, We’re here.

Firebane scrambled down, bent over, and threw up to my left. I cringed. I would have rubbed her back, but settled for cupping her left shoulder to keep her from falling over.

Several people saw us, and one of them pointed us out to Agent Willman. He jogged toward us. Behind him, police officers watched the firefighters as they attempted to put out the blaze.

Firebane stood and wiped off her mouth. She glanced up at me and said, Sorry.

You really hate being up in the sky, huh?

She put a hand on her stomach and fought off another bout of sickness. Don’t remind me.

Agent Willman stopped in front of us and looked at Firebane. Are you all right?

She nodded.

I asked, What’s the F.B.I. doing at a fire, and what do you need us to do?

He replied, Someone called in the fire, and police responded. They were able to look inside before the fire became too strong, and saw cages inside the factory. They thought kidnapping might be involved, so they called us. They also saw some bodies, but couldn’t get close.

I nodded and looked at Firebane. You focus on putting out the fire, while I look for people?

She said, Sure.

We jogged toward the building. I noticed a hole in the wall about fifteen feet up. There was no debris outside, so someone or something had gone into the building. We passed it and went to one of the doors the firefighters were focusing upon. Firebane stopped and coughed a few times. It sounded different from the aftereffect of throwing up, but I didn’t have time to think about it.

I stopped and asked the man directing the others, Have you seen the bodies inside?

He looked at me and said, There’s several. My men said two are off toward the left, and other far right. The cages are in the center. We think explosives caused the explosion, as well as combustible materials places around the factory floor.

I nodded and approached the door. The man and woman holding the hose at the door aimed it off toward the right, and I moved past them.

The firefighter woman asked, You want us to douse you to help against the heat?

I shook my head, No need, but thanks.

Firebane followed on my heels. She went with me as I jogged to the left, and the areas of fire began flowing through the air toward her. It created a surreal effect to the area as all the flame flowed sideways.

I absorbed some of the heat as it moved past me, and felt as though I were drinking energy drinks. I felt warm, and my blood felt hot. Yellow fumes came off my skin and through my costume.

I reached the first body, or the remains of one. The man was definitely dead, and I thought it best to leave it for the forensics people than to bring him out. The fire in the area snuffed out as Firebane absorbed all of the heat from the air and materials.

We moved on and found a second body. This man’s body was in better condition, but he was still dead. A submachine gun was near him. It was clear that he died due to vicious claws tearing into him.

I looked back at Firebane, and she smiled at me. She had her hands up, with the palms facing out. The fire arced and flowed into her them. Her hair was alight with fire, and her eyes glowed orange. She appeared to be enjoying the activity.

A few wisps of blackness were sucked along with the fire from the center of the factory floor. I wondered if she had the ability to absorb smoke as well. I didn’t remember her doing it in the previous fire we had worked together on, however.

I shrugged and moved on, jogging toward the far side where the firefighters had seen another body. We passed a group of them on the way there. They cut the supply on their hose when the fire flowed strangely through the air near them, and was then snuffed out. More wisps of blackness flowed along with the fire from the center open area on occasion. The center of the warehouse burned hotter, and the concrete floor and sub-walls were damaged as though by a supers fight or by explosions.

We found one more body. This man was badly charred, and his body was in pieces, as though he had been near an explosion. Firebane put one hand against her mouth.

She said, What happened?

I replied, I’m guessing an explosion of some type. He was armed. His submachine gun was damaged; the ammunition had gone off while in the magazine. Let’s head to the center to check the cages. The fire looks hotter there.

We moved toward the middle of the building, and more flames flowed sideways through the air toward the heroine next to me. She put her left hand back up, and stopped to cough a few times, although it didn’t affect her ability to absorb the fire.

She shook her head for a moment, the light in the area dimmed, and all sound was distorted and then muted for a few seconds. I glanced at Firebane, the skin not covered by the spandex half-top and shorts was glowing like a light source.I breathed in. The smoke wasn’t too bad in the room, although there was a chemical smell to the place. I wished that I had Black Tiger’s sense of smell. He would probably know what the aroma was from, and where.

I asked, Can you smell that?

She glanced at me, I smell something, but not sure what it is.

Dang.

The cages became visible through the flame. They were in a long row. Melted plastic and glass shards were in the area. I found part of a camera lens.

More blackness flowed along with the flame, the sound of lightning cracking came from ahead, and a thick floating wave of blackness poured toward Firebane.

She glanced up at me and said, Oh, crud. What’s that?

I shrugged, Looks like Atomizer’s energy, but without the purple.

She cringed for a moment. We all knew that Atomizer disintegrated things with his black energy, or did before he died.

It flowed into her hands, and her skin slowly changed to inky black as more of the energy flowed into her. Another crack sounded, and the wave of black energy grew in size.

I tentatively held my left hand toward it. I was worried about it being some kind of disintegration beam, but nothing of the sort occurred. Instead, my blood felt as though it lit on fire, and energy flowed through my entire body. My muscles felt as though they were tearing up, and I dropped to one knee and thumped my knuckles against the floor. A massive crack came from the concrete as it snapped in lines coming from the spot beneath my hand.

I forced my eyes open, though my muscles felt much as they had when I first changed, and the pain was intense. Everything went dark, and I realized that Firebane had sucked all of the fire out of the factory. In fact, my breath came out as frost; she was absorbing so much of the ambient heat. The very light in the room was dim, and an odd rainbow effect appeared everywhere that light streamed into the room as it bent toward her.

The blackness poured forth from the remains of a cage on the left-hand side. It stopped moving toward her, and Firebane shook. She had her hand on her stomach, and appeared sick, much as she had when she absorbed too much fire during the first burning building.

Firebane dropped to her knees next to me. Her solid black eyes looked toward me, and her jaws were grit together in pain. Then, a sphere of darkness exploded from her. I was thrown toward the cages and crashed into them. I stopped there, caught in the mangled mess of bars. I was dimly aware that they weren’t even