The Gifted (ONC 2023)

Chapter 3 The Duel

Antoni hated the London Underground. It was too crowded, and as soon as you descended below ground, it became stuffy and claustrophobic. And all the tunnels and a dozen of different tube lines were utterly confusing. So, of course, his dear sister chose to run deeper into this hell trap. He jumped off the busy train as soon as the door opened. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through the mass of people heading for the way out.

"Hurry up, Toni," Yuliya's voice insisted. "I lost contact with Aleks. I think she's in trouble, but I have no visuals." 

Toni's fist clenched as he waited for the train to close the door and start moving unhurriedly. When it finally disappeared into the tunnel, he jumped on the tracks. A few people cried out in surprise, but he ignored them and ran into the dark tunnel. When he left the train station behind, he raised his hand and conjured a small ball of fire to illuminate his way.

Luckily for him, the maintenance tunnels were much more simplistic than public infrastructure. It took him just a few moments to find the maintenance door with a ruined padlock, and he dashed inside. A scream echoed through the walls, followed by a distant glimmer of white light. Fear and anger flooded him, and stray sparks started flying off his fingers. It was Aleks. She was in trouble, and he wasn't there to protect her.

He became one with the fire burning inside of him, forcing his mind to let go of focusing on the physical form of his body and instead letting instincts take over. The borders between him and the flames blurred, and the surge of fire burst forward faster than any human could. Though it was a very potent way of transportation, he couldn't keep it up for too long. As he focused more on instinct while turning himself into the blaze, he also quickly lost a sense of purpose and direction, as, like fire, the only important thing was to move forward and consume all on his path.

As soon as the narrow walls disappeared, he let go of the flames and took a second to reorient himself. He was now standing at the entrance to the spacious bomb shelter.  Not far from him stood their target, his hand raised above his head and pure despair on his face. Antoni couldn't even remember his name, though Aleks seemed oddly taken with him. And then he spotted his sister. She was on her hands and knees, her whole body trembling, while the deviant crouched next to her and grabbed her chin with his big hand.

"Hey! Hands off my sister, you creep!" Toni growled before any rational thought could enter his mind. His hand shot forward, and a fireball surged straight at the deviant.

Aleks immediately fell flat on the ground and rolled away. His sister knew that the safest action was to stay away from him once he came into the fight. They trained together all the time and understood each other without words.

The deviant wasn't as lucky. Caught by surprise, he didn't dodge in time, and his leather coat ignited with bright red flames. He fell on the ground and rolled, dousing out the fire and removing the jacket. With an angry scowl, he got up and brushed off the dirt from his arms.

"So, you finally decided to show up, fire boy. I was beginning to think you were too much of a coward."

"That's rich coming from you, considering you were threatening a helpless civilian," Toni taunted.  "How about you fight someone your size, eh?" He threw another fireball, but the deviant was ready this time and jumped away, sending a bolt of lightning in counterattack. Antoni turned into fire and surged to the right, appearing a few meters closer to his opponent. "Too slow, mate."

The deviant nodded appreciatively and slowly strolled to the left, sizing up his new adversary. "I've heard a lot about you, fire boy. The newest shiny acquisition of GSO. Rumour has it you are one of the most powerful among the gifted." He scoffed. "To think you would waste such talent to be a government lapdog."