Ash couldn't believe it, nor could he have imagined that anything of this nature was going on in his hometown. everything was frozen, covered in ice or snow. He had no clue how this whole thing happened, or why it was happening. Why was it happening? How long has this been happening? And probably the most important question of all, why was this happening to him?
He stared for a while longer before turning back to the others. "Wait, hold on! You think I can just accept this with the tiniest bit of information? Hell no!" he argued, crossing his arms. "Tell me as much as you can, now!"
Pyre sighed a little, shaking her head before looking out over the city. "We are the Infernos, people that can generate fire simply from the heat we produce." she started explaining. "This place right now is called the Frosted Time, a place that reflects Ember City, while also affecting it as well."
"Affecting it how?" Ash asked her. Before Pyre could reply, the girl with the sunglasses spoke up in her place.
"Those weird disturbances you keep feeling. The skips in time, the cold weather sometimes, and also physical damage. Do you even watch the news?" she asked Ash, who thought for a moment before remembering.
"Wait, you mean that those freak accidents that happen around here happen because of this place?" Ash asked, and once again, someone different answered him. This time, it was the large, muscular guy.
"Yes, but also no. This place is half the story. What comes next is the scary part. Well, for someone like you at least." he explained, then chuckled slightly before turning back to the city, giving a slightly concerned look. "The second half is those damn creatures..."
Ash blinked for a moment, then jumped a little as Pyre jumped in front of him and spooked him. "H-Hey!" he yelled at her, to which she just giggled slightly.
"Oh come on, don't be such a worry-wart. Vulcan's just trying to make you wimp out, but I know you better than him. You won't wimp out, right?" she asked him, giving a slight smile at him.
Ash simply looked at her, before looking out over the city once more and answering.
"Well, I haven't run off yet, have I?" he mused, smiling a little then looking at Pyre.
Pyre smiled and nodded.
"That's right! See Vulcan? He's not afraid!"
Vulcan sighed, shaking his head but smiling a little all the same. "Alright, alright, you made your point. The kid's up to the challenge, but can he handle it is the question."
"I've made up my mind already." Ash said simply in response.
"Indeed you have. You and Pyre are alike, so it seems. Right, well then, get ready because the stage is about to start." With that, Vulcan ran off the building, jumping onto the next roof. The sunglasses girl and masked guy followed suit, and Pyre grabbed Ash's hand as she started pulling him along. Ash allowed her to, jumping onto the next rooftop after a short sprint. As he was in the air, another flash of light changed the appearance of the frozen wasteland to one that reflected a hellish version of the city. Ash and Pyre moved over to the others, and Pyre went over to the sunglasses girl.
"Avril, where is it?" Pyre asked her, the girl who the name belonged to taking off her sunglasses to reveal irises that seemed to have a fire pattern to them.
"A few blocks down, it's just starting to form." she said to Pyre, looking in the direction she was referring to. Ash decided to go over to Vulcan and ask him a question while Pyre was busy.
"Um, what happened now?" he asked him.
"Frosted Time is just the entrance stage. Once a creature spawns, it changes to the Catalyst Zone and everything heats up."
"And... how the hell are we not burning up?" Ash asked him.
"Right now, the heat we are producing is keeping the hellish heat out. In other words, we're burning at about the same temperature to keep us alive here."
"How hot is that?" Ash asked as well.
"About one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit." Vulcan said, making Ash's eyes widen in disbelief. He was about to ask something else, but Pyre's voice calling him over stopped him from doing so.
"Hey, Ash! Come over here!" He obliged and walked over to her and Avril. "Right, since you don't know how this all works, just stick with Smoke over there and observe." She pointed to the masked guy, who didn't make any gesture at all. Ash nodded, and Pyre nodded back. "Alright guys, let's go take it out quickly." They all jumped down into the streets, Ash following after Smoke as they dropped down.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?!" is all Ash could let escape from him as he witnessed a sight that would haunt him for a few nights afterwards in his dreams. A giant golem made out of volcanic rock, with sharp claws, spiked shoulders and blazing eyes.
Smoke covered Ash's mouth and pulled him straight to the ground behind a car so the golem wouldn't see. He still remained silent, as always, and Ash knew that he wouldn't speak at all, let alone to him. They both remained silent while Pyre and Vulcan started drawing its attention.
Ash looked back at them, finding Pyre dual-wielding a pair of what looked to be fire extinguishers, while Vulcan held onto a large axe. 'Where the heck did they get those?' he thought while he watched.
Vulcan charged at it with a roar, swinging the axe wildly as he chipped away at it.
Pyre waited a moment before running up and jumping onto Vulcan's back, taking a step and jumping into the air. The fire extinguishers changed into guns, which surprised Ash, and then Pyre started firing at it with flames of her own. The golem stumbled back, and again Ash had more questions, but then the golem started fighting against the flames and kicked at Pyre as she fell to the ground, sending her into a building next to him.
"Pyre!" Ash yelled, deciding no longer to observe this nonsense and rushed out.
"Kid, what the hell are you doing?!" Vulcan yelled at him.
Avril jumped from another rooftop nearby, throwing fire extinguishing bombs at the golem before calling out as well. "You idiot! You don't know what you're doing!"
"Shut up! I do know what I'm doing, I'm gonna take this guy out now!" Ash yelled at them both, his eyes blazing out in a red aura before bursting out into a hotter fire. His hair flared up as well, and he rushed at the golem. He jumped and landed a punch at its chest, making it stumble back as the punch exploded like a fireball. Ash dropped to the ground, but immediately ran after the thing, almost at a blinding speed as he landed a kick to it as well. The kick's impact cracked it's whole body, and soon after it fell apart into pieces.
"The kid... he did it." Vulcan said, slightly surprised. Pyre walked over to stand next to Vulcan, her arm scraped and bleeding a little but otherwise was smiling.
"Told you Vulcan, he's gonna fit in just fine." At this, Vulcan looked at Pyre with surprise still.
"You... planned to get hit, didn't you?"
"I figured it would stir his ability from inside. You see, he doesn't need a weapon like us. He is the weapon." Pyre explained, watching as Ash returned to being near normal and as he turned to look at Pyre. He rushed over and stopped in front of her.
"Pyre, are you alright? Your arm, is it-" Ash started, but was silenced by Pyre's finger to his lips.
"I'm fine, really. But how about you? How do you feel?" she asked him. For one reason or another, Ash reddened slightly, but took a moment to calm down a bit before answering.
"I feel kinda fired up, literally. What the heck was that?" he asked her.
"It's something I like to call the 'Wildfire' weapon. Only you can reach a fire that heated on your own, and all you needed was a little push to unlock it. Next time, maybe check your bracer to see your temperature. For now, just shut your eyes for few seconds." Pyre explained then told Ash to do. He looked at her for a moment, then did as he was asked. Before he opened his eyes, he heard her say "See you again really soon, okay?" quietly, and then something touch his cheek before a car beeping brought him to his senses.
He was standing in the middle of a busy street, the city now back to normal and people yelling at him to move out of the way. It took a moment for his brain to get back into gear and make him run all the way back to his house.
