The Man Who Could Harness Fire

A man covered head to toe in bandages underneath a long trench coat and dress clothes walked down the trash ridden streets of Detroit. Thinking slash muttering to himself.

“I swear this city gets dirtier every week.”

He heard a distant roaring sound of a fire and looked up to see him flying high above. The hero Sun Rise honoring his namesake and igniting the murky sky.

“Look mom! There he is!” a nearby child said.

The bandaged man looked over at the young boy waving to the soaring man and his mother who had joined in. Then back up at the oblivious hero as he soared off.

“Hmph,” he said as he walked through the entrance and up the stairs of an abandoned building. A shoddy run down one with cracked stairs, chipped and stripping paint and random holes in the walls. He got to the second floor and creaked across the floorboards to where his three captures sat against a desk. Blindfolded, gagged and tied together at the waist. Their arms and legs were bound as well. They screamed and moaned helplessly while wiggling about.

“Missed me?”

“Mmmmfff!” they screamed in a continuing response.

“Relax, he’ll be coming to get you. I just gotta make the call. By the way you guys didn’t make it easy for me either. You’re all quite the fighters.”

He looked to each of them as he dialed. The stewardess who had stepped out back for a smoke. The old man with a walker who had strayed to close to an abandoned alley. The lanky mid thirty year old whom had gone for a stroll in the park to level his head. All out later than they should have been.

“It’s almost their fault,” he thought.

Minutes later Sun Rise soared through the open window of the burning building, ahead of the firemen as always. Clad in a red suit with a chin exposing mask and the image of a sunrise on his chest.

“Third floor he said,” Sun Rise said looking around at the empty burning room.

“Hello?” he yelled.

He was greeted with a muffled scream across the room. He ran over to the closet to find the tied-up stewardess.

“One,” he said pulling her out and burning her ropes off. She took off her gag and blindfold once her hands were free.

“Thank you!” she said.

“Where are the rest?” he asked.

“I don’t know we’ve been blindfolded the whole time.”

“Get behind me,” he said

She did as was told as he looked about. No one was under the desk and the only other item in the room was a safe.

“The madman he wouldn’t possibly-

He noticed her coughing and realized there wasn’t much time to debate. He thrust her over one arm and flew her down. Then flew back up for the safe. He lifted it up and flew it down as well. By which point the Firefighters were arriving. He set it down and thought about what the combination might be. Then he noticed a small piece of paper wedged in the slit of the door. He pulled it out, noting by its stickiness it was coated in what could only be a flame-retardant substance.

The piece of paper read: “I am your death, watch me fade away as you continue to rise. Like a clock being adjusted I am-”

He thought for a moment. “I am your death…like a clock. He started to think the last line might be irrelevant, then it hit him.

“Sunset!”

He typed in the code and the safe opened revealing a lanky young man. He lifted the boy out and like before destroyed his bondage with fire.

“Jesus Christ you’re my hero! Literally!” the boy said hugging the hero. Once he had gotten to his feet and gotten rid of the gag and blindfold.

“Wait? It’s just you in there? Shoot!”

Sun Rise flew back up leaving the two in the alley. He looked about in the room and saw nowhere else for the third hostage the arsonist had told him off to be. And the fire raged on, there was only so much of it he was able to resist.

“Was the third one a lie? No think…”

He tried to quiet his mind amidst the roaring embers. Then he heard it, quiet as a mouse. But where was it coming from…?”

He listened again keenly…and then he looked down.

Pressing his ear to the floor he just caught the faint screaming sound. He then pulled up the floorboards and found the old man tied up in a hidden storage space beneath.  

He flew him out to the ground. Soon after the three victims were looked after by the Firefighter’s. While Sun Rise spoke with a cop.

“Did you find any other victim’s?” Sun Rise asked.

“No sir, it was an abandoned building. Seems he didn’t want to hurt anyone else. The police are looking into motives he may have had against these three individuals. Did he reveal anything in his phone call to you about his motifs?”

“No, he just said there were three hostages and gave me the address and floor. And then I found this attached to the safe.”

Sun Rise pulled out the small piece of paper he had found tucked into the safe door.

“Strange.”

“Yeah…I’ll leave this and the rest to you boys.”

“No problem as always thanks for your help Sun Rise,” he said taking the small piece of paper from.

“You’re the real heroes,” he said chuckling and flying off. Leaving the men to finish cleaning up. Random civilians applauded as they saw him fly away, igniting mid air as he did for even more applause.

While from the roof of a nearby building the bandaged man watched both him and the building scowling. He commenced walking off, stopping to cough and clutch his gut in pain. Steadying himself against a wall he waited until it was over and walked on.

A few days later Sun Rise was greeted with yet another call to a sudden burning abandoned building. The bandaged man stood across the street watching the building he had set ablaze. As he stared at it he thought back to that time not long ago….

Two Years Ago:

Two men in their mid-thirties walked home from their latest drunken vendor.

“Told you I’d drink you under the table!” Viktor said.

“That you did, of course I didn’t think we’d then spend three or so hours walking all over the city to wear it off.” Damien said.

“How else we gonna do this? We were lit as holy and no bars were taking us anymore.”

“It’s been a nice walk I’ll admit, after I remembered where I was at least. Gonna feel this in the morning Chris.”

“You’d better Viktor that memory is gonna have to tie you over for a while. Once school starts, I don’t know how much time we’re gonna-

Viktor stopped suddenly.

“You smell that? It’s smoke.”

He then traced the source with his nose to the glowing room of a room on the third floor of a building they were across the street from.

“I’ll call the fire department,” Viktor said.

Damien simply stood watching and narrowing his eyes

“No time!” he said running across the street and into the building.

“Damien! Dammit!” he put his cell back in his pocket and ran after him into the burning building…

The bandaged man was brought out of his reminisce by Sun Rise on the horizon. Flying towards the building at top speed. Seeing this he left leaving the hero to once again zoom fly though one of the windows.

“Jesus!” he said to himself. “I’m starting to wish I could absorb fire, or at least had super breath to blow it out. Hello!”

He called then heard the immediate muffled response. He ran into the dining room to find a wealthy couple sitting on chairs on opposite ends of the long dining table. Their hands were bound behind the chairs. He ran up and was about to burn away the person closest to him’s ropes. When he noticed something in the poor wealthy man’s lap. It was a bucket, he leaned down and smelt it.

“Gasoline.”

He noticed to as he drew the man out slowly that the bucket was glued by the bottom to his lap with the same flame-retardant glue as before.

“If I try to pull it off I could spill it all over you, in this blaze...if I just stood you up and had it dump out in front of you it could still potentially blow up in your face.”

He thought for a moment.

“It’s gross but…”

He then thought back to his partying days and dunked his head in the bucket. Drinking the gasoline in a fierce chug. Then coughing up fire as he ran to do the same to the ladies at the end of the table. Soon after he had their ropes burned and flew through an open window with both the husband and wife. Then after the police, fire department and ambulance arrived. He spent a few minutes vomiting burning puke in a trash can at the side of the building, igniting it.

“Got another one fore ya,” he said to a Firefighter spraying the building who quickly turned and sprayed the garbage can down the alley out before resuming.

“Hard to believe he went through the trouble of dragging their dining table into the abandoned building, how theatrical,” the detective said.

“Well, at least he’s not destroying homes,” Sun Rise jested.

“How considerate, any luck?”

Sun Rise had a fiery coughing fit. Lurching over and trying not to burn the detective’s shoes. Before gathering himself and resuming.

“Nope, same old simple info and hang up. Always from a pay phone, you?”

“Squat.”

“Rats.”

He flew off and again the bandaged man looked on annoyed from a roof top.

“That does it,” he said.

A few days later Sun Rise got his most recent call from the bandaged man.

“When is this gonna end? What is your goal? Who are you?” Sun Rise said equally annoyed and angry.

1154 Climin Lane.

“…What?”

“That’s your next and last target, the basement.”

The man hung up.

“No.” Sun Rise said as he soared over as fast as he could to the location. Not bothering to find a window and plowing through a wall of the vacant burning farmhouse. Realizing seconds after that it was a bad idea. He rushed to the basement to find them. His parent’s, trapped under piles of lumber coated in the retardant glue to keep them from burning. The roof was in tact for the time being and they had a conveniently laid pattern.

“He set them down himself!”

“Help!” his mom cried.

“I’m coming mom!”

He yelled running down to start lifting the logs. Only to notice they were heavier than he expected. Even with his enhanced strength he was having a tough time.

“Oh please Viktor! We can’t breathe! They’re crushing our lungs! And it’s so hot!”

“Hang on!” he yelled as he pulled the lumber aside steady but sure, but by the third piece found himself exhausted.

“Must have put metal sand in them or something.”

And sure enough on the side he noticed a small hole in one of them packed with it. He had to rest for a moment at his parent’s chagrin. The roaring fire and smoke choking his lungs didn’t help. But soon he got his barring’s and lifted the rest of the lumber off. Revealing a final glowing red metal bar across them. Searing their skin as they screamed in anguish.

“Oh Hell on earth.”

He took a deep breath and clasped the bar, screaming in agony as he squatted and with all his might lifted the small burning girder up. It slowly moved and started to melt and bend slightly. He was in so much pain but he finally moved it and though it to the side.

Let’s get the hell out of here!” he said at last lifting his parents up and running out with them.”

The fire department came as did the police and ambulance. This time he rode off with his parents to the hospital. And stayed with them for days until told to leave by the nurse.

“The burns aren’t life threatening, and we’ll be able to get them into surgery soon. You should get some rest,” she said.

Then looked out the window at the rising sun.

“Sorry miss but, the suns rising. And I’ve got someone to find.”

Sunrise to sunset he spent the next few days searching for him everywhere, asking everyone. Until he found answers.

The bandaged man walked coughing though the woods to the clearing in the woods where he had set up a tent. Stopping along the way to steady himself. He came upon the clearing and their he was waiting for him by his tent.

“Hello Damien,” Sun Rise said.

“Took you long enough,” Damian said. “So…am I still allowed to call you Viktor old friend?”

“Old friend my ass! Why!? And how for that matter!?”

“…Do you remember what we went through?”

Two Years Ago:

The boy ran though the building to the third floor. Damian kicked down the man’s apartment door and called out in the inferno for him as he walked inside with Viktor in tow.

“I’m in here!” he called.

The boys ran to find him in his room trapped beneath a pile of rubble from a collapsed ceiling. As they ran over the home made science experiment occupying the length of his table started to glow and react to the heat. As the boys got to the man the whole set exploded engulfing all three of them in flames….

“He died that day, and we were hospitalized for months in the burn ward. But we always had each other. Side by side we promised we’d make it threw together…but then you got better and I didn’t. Your skin suddenly started to miraculously heal, then you could stand. And it only got better from there. Soon you were strong, able to fly and able to conjure fire. I kept wondering when my abilities would come…they didn’t. and soon you were out of the hospital. And I was alone.”

“…I visited you.”

“At first, then you moved on.”

“That’s not true I couldn’t…bring myself to after a while. I got depressed and felt guilty about it.”

“LIAR!”

“It’s true I tried many times and then just kept going home.”

“I saw you walking past the hospital with a group of friends once.”

“What you saw was me walking off then bumping into them as they walked by. The reason I became a hero is because of you. Because of the sacrifice you made that day.”

“…I lied, I actually got my powers to, all except the flight. Right after I got strong enough to stand.”

Damien ignited his hand.

“Don’t do this.”

Then though a fireball at Sun Rise. He flew backwards then flew at Damian. Pushing him into a tree. He coughed slightly and stood igniting both hands and rapid firing at Sun Rise who dodged and flew at him pushing him though the woods. He plowed Damien though several trees before grabbing him by the arm, flying up and tossing him hard to the ground. The man wheezed in the crater as Sun Rise gently lowered himself to the ground.

“You tried to kill my family, those people. Why?”

“To show you the suffering you showed me when you abandoned me. You were my family.”

Sun Rise walked over and extended a hand.

“Seems we have a lot to talk about,” he said.

Damien only glared up at him.

“Damien please.”

But then decided he would take the hand. As Sun Rise helped him to his feet Damien suddenly lunged to flaming fingers into his eyes. He recoiled in immense pain, then Damien tackled him. The two flew over a nearby guard rail down a steep hill and tumbled to the ground. Damien soon found his bearings and leaped on a getting up sun Rise. He then punched the hero in face and with all his power channeled a blue fire with both hand into Sun Rises face. When he let up only a burning skull on a limp body remained. Damien stood and panted…then a single tear rolled down his face.

“What have I done?”

Days later the memory of his friend and the others he had hurt were all the weight he decided he would need. As he stood on the railing and prepared to jump off the nearest bridge he had found. Watching the rushing rapids he prepared himself mentally when he looked over and saw it. A fire in the local library.

It took him a few minutes but he got to the top of the building just as the building was about to come down on the trapped janitor. Damien erupted flames form his hands igniting the heavy roof as it persisted to fall down on them. With all his might he concentrated and in a pillar of fire turned the whole thing to dust. Then he panted looking over at the man.

“You’re gonna be alright, you’re gonna-

Then the burned floor beneath him gave way. And Damien fell through a hole in the floor several stories to the bottom. They arrived to find his body, blood seeping out of his head, bandages unfurled, and his face completely healed.

The End