IGNIS : the umbrella academy [COMPLETE]

IV

     KLAUS STAGGERED INTO THE THEATRE, "Guys, guys! Cha-Cha, Cha-Cha is here!"

     Then, he froze, eyes going impossibly wide at the sight in front of him. There was Carla, but it couldn't be her, surely it couldn't.

     His Carla had hot hands at most, and used to complain when people in movies could create fireballs to shoot at people, because according to her it was 'unrealistic'.

     He dove behind a row of seats for protection.

     His Carla couldn't levitate, yet here she was, floating a few inches above the floor, arms out to either side of her as though she were crucified.

     Her hair blew around her head like a wildfire, her skin glowing as though molten lava flowed beneath her skin.

     Then she opened her eyes and Klaus audibly gasped because holy shit they were glowing, bright and orange and piercing and definitely terrifying.

     There was an aura surrounding her body, radiating such severe heat the carpet below her feet was melted and Klaus could feel it almost burning his skin.

     The gunmen that hadn't been burned to a crisp by the swell of fire started firing at her, but the bullets melted as soon as they hit the aura, disintegrating into nothing.

     Klaus was in shock. This was a Carla he wasn't used to, a Carla who was stronger than anyone could comprehend, a Carla who had finally stopped holding herself back and had embraced her powers.

     She had taken control.

     Klaus looked at the other Hargreeves, who could only watch in awe as Carla looked around at the gunmen, still trying to shoot her.

     She stretched her right arm out towards a group of them, fire winding down her arm like a serpent before launching itself at the group, swelling in size until the ball of fire swallowed the three of them whole, disappearing a second later to leave three charred corpses behind.

     He let out a shout of alarm.

     Allison, Diego and Luther had their mouths open in shock as she went after each of the figures.

     Five crawled back a bit, eyes wide in what seemed like horror. It was like that night all over again, the heat, the levitating, the aura. Except, as he looked at her more, he realised it wasn't.

     Carla was awake, she was aware as to what she was doing. She had a hold over her powers this time.

     The image of her body bleeding out flashed to the front of his mind, and Five squeezed his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to ward away the memory. When he opened them again, he saw her, the determination on her face, the raw power flowing through her.

     He felt a pull in his chest, a mix of pride and awe and guilt.

     "You need to let me help her!" Ben yelled to Klaus, practically pleading, "Please! She could end up wearing herself out!"

     Klaus looked at Carla, and he saw it was true, her skin seemed to be flickering slightly at the extensive use of her new powers, as she attacked figure after figure, leaving no gunman standing.

     Even though she was standing her ground, more and more figures were flooding the theatre, from all angles, and Klaus didn't know if Carla could hold them all off.

     Ben had known Carla for just as long as Klaus, and although the teen could neither see nor hear him, they often spoke through Klaus. Ben had grown to care deeply for the girl who was stuck in time, and was tired of seeing her struggle without being there to help.