Of Fire and Waves

Chapter 8: Let There Be Light

There was a moment before the first bullets reached me, and time seemed to slow as the flashed of light from the popping guns reflected on my goggles. I felt 2 beats of my heart as it pounded against my chest before the bullets slammed into my tightly coiled inferno. The first bullet struck the blaze 3 inches from my chest, incinerating into ashes just before it struck. After 4 incredibly long seconds had passed, all while the bullets were still raining down on me, I thought, 'hey, maybe I should think of a plan!' As the next bullet struck my slowly dissolving barrier, the full force of the bullet struck my body and felt like a solid punch. I racked my mind for a way out of this. I glanced behind me, and noticed the mobsters had circled around me, effectively surrounding me. Fantastic, now I can attack in any direction I want! The circle strategy wasn't the best, as the monsters might get hit with their own bullets, but it was effective at keeping me pinned in the center of the docks.
Though it wasn't a brilliant idea, I let my eyes slide shut. I reached my senses out, and felt the flickering flames around me.
And then, with a sharp breath, I yanked. The result of my action were immediate.
The fire which had been coiled around me stilled completely for a second, before it literally exploded outward with a surge of energy. Scarlet tendrils of fire shout out from around me in a roaring wave, and my attackers halted their fire to try and shield themselves against the mighty display of my power. With a single thought of "defend," the tendrils swirled and condensed, wrapping around my form and embracing me until, moments later, I floated in the eye of a tornado of fire, my red eyes shining behind my goggles as they pulsated with power.
I roared, the stunned gangsters snapping back into motion after the display of my abilities. They raced toward Nessie, placing something into her hands. I didn't have much time to be curious as she hurled it at me. Well crap. The thing flying at my face at the speed of a major league baseball, was a grenade.
My reaction was immediate as I snapped my arms in front of my chest in an x, the fire condensing in front of me as it tried to melt it at the same time. But it was too late.
I was rewarded for my efforts by not being killed instantly. In that second, I felt myself violently ejected from the center of the flames and out the other side.
I connected with the concrete twenty feet away too hard and too fast. My left shoulder made a sick 'pop' as my body slammed into the ground. I skidded across the gravel, my body screaming as I slid to a stop. I sprawled on the ground for a moment, then I rolled over into a crouch, and threw myself behind a forklift, narrowly missing the hail of bullets that impacted the ground where I had just been. I've had my shoulder dislocated enough times to recognize when it was such, and oh boy was it. I pressed myself against the forklift, panting. I was not in a favorable place. Undoubtedly, the Rose Company members had their guns trained to either side of the forklift, and above it in case I tried to fly out and away. Admittedly, I was exhausted. I wasn't sure if I had the strength to summon a fire of my own. If the engine of this forklift exploded, I might be strong enough to make more fire.
I can't do that however. Fly away. If I flew away, I would be abandoning this city, the people who lived here, and everything Night ever taught me. I shifted, inching my way to the very edge of the forklift. I peered around it at the mobsters. My shoulder flared with pain, reminding me that, yes, the dislocation had not stopped being a thing. I focused on the mobsters, pushing the pain to the back of my mind. They had their guns leveled at my cover. Ok, first order of business, take down the Company. Second order of business, kick Nessie's fishy butt. Easy peasy. I pulled away from the side, leaning back against the forklift. I glared at my injured arm. "I hate you." I rumbled. I took my forearm of my left arm with my right hand. I took a deep breath, and slowly pushed my left arm away from my body. Biting back a scream, I slowly relocated my shoulder. Keeping it immobile wasn't an option, so I'd make due with an unstable left arm. I rolled my shoulder, wincing at the stiffness but satisfied with the relocation.
I leaned over again, peering into the darkness that had been left behind after my flames went out. The bad news is that all the Company members were focused on me. The good news is that because they were focused on me, they didn't see the cyan and blue figure that snuck up behind them. As I watched, a hand shot out of the darkness, covering a gangster's mouth and sending a jolt through their body, the skeleton visible for a fraction of a second. I grinned tiredly. Volt, always coming to the rescue. She lowered the man to the ground. He was unconscious, not dead. She moved on. A hailstorm of bullets shot toward me as I jerked my head back to safety. I stood, covered by the forklift. I put my good shoulder against it and shoved. I dug my feet into the gravel, and heaved the hulking structure toward the baddies. They opened fire, bullets putting dents and holes in the metal. Volt slammed her hands onto the backs of two members. They dropped the the ground with a thump, alerting the others that they were not alone. About 5 of the guns turned on her. The other 12, however singed or burned, kept shooting at me.
Finally, one of them hit the engine. It exploded in a fireball, wrapping around me in a warm embrace, like a mother to her children. I smiled, and sucked the fire out of the engine, breathing in the flames and breathing out twice as much. A wildfire now burned around me. I absorbed as much as I could, then lept into the air, hovering in a red aura of fire. I threw my arms out to the side, the flames following my lead, creating a very dramatic phoenix shape. "LET THERE BE LIGHT," I roared, and clapped my hands together, a dragon made of flames racing toward the Rose Company. I swooped forward, tackling a member to the ground and slamming my fist into his jaw. He was, effectively, down for the count. I kicked, spinning backwards and landing a low kick to someone's nethers. I spun into the kick, and popped off the ground to uppercut the man. He went down like a sack of potatoes. Well, 2 down, 10 to go. I looked around, tense. As it turns out, I had set three of them on fire. They were able to reach the bay, but were unconscious, and Nessie was not helping. Speaking of which, where is she? I spun slowly. I saw Volt electrocute the last man with a punch to the throat. Around her lay the smoking, unconscious bodies of all the other idiots stupid enough to try and fight. Ok, so that leaves about 7 total, not including Nessie.