Like Orion & Spark

19: You're a Hero, I'm an Amateur Villain

Orion was too strong. I could never land an attack from afar. No matter how close I got, he would simply keep me at a distance.

As his footsteps grew closer, I secured my hand around the trunk of the car, attempting to make myself flat against the ground.

In the reflection of the taillights, the street was a dull red. The fire sang a quiet melody which thrummed in my veins, crying out for me to rejuvenate it. In the damp air, I had offset the delicate balance. How the hell was I supposed to keep track of two constants at once?

A glowing hue coated the truck. I held on for dear life as Orion lifted the structure. My legs dangled underneath me as I hung on, using all the strength I had to climb to the hood. My intake of breath became faster, more acute, as if remembering I needed oxygen to fuel the fire that burned within me.

"Orion, hurry!" Kris called. Something in her voice seemed to waver—indirectly placing stress on each syllable, calling his attention towards her. A pang of guilt seared my chest that she'd joined me so recklessly. I crossed my fingers and hoped she would remain unharmed.

Orion's face dipped in the opposite direction for a split second. I flung my body towards him, letting gravity take hold. I slipped off the edge of the car, using the momentum as a booster, and my body was airborne for a single, fleeting burst.

Time seemed to slow down. I was held up by nothing at all, as if suspended above an ocean shelf that seemed endless and never-ending. I raised my fist above my head with a slow, almost lagging effort.

I slammed into Orion. My legs extended outward like claws, digging into his chest and connecting with his helmet. My closed hand smashed into his neck, leaving a spatter of blood in its wake. Using my trajectory, I pushed myself over his head. I could not find it within me to blink.

My head rushed towards the ground. I buckled my knees and bowed my head. The world was spinning. I could see everything and nothing. The fading black of the road. The grey stones lining the sidewalk. A blurry mixture of green grass and hopeful fire.

I crumbled against the ground, bouncing against the rocks and the pavement, tearing the skin across my limbs. I was in tatters.

I lifted my head and scanned my surroundings. I expected Orion's stance to shift—for him to toss me aside—but he didn't. He simply looked down at me for a moment. Blood trickled from the collar of his suit. I had almost expected to see ichor; something gold and not entirely human.

"You aren't impenetrable," I muttered. "That's what you believe, isn't it? Wearing that outfit... acting all superior... and for what?"

My stomach lurched as I righted myself. The veins in my hands were cobalt blue. To my side, I caught sight of the truck. It was overturned, the wheels pointed towards the sky as they spun.

"I could ask you the same question," Orion replied. Shards of glass and ripped asphalt reflected a dozen distorted perspectives of myself, staring through me as though I was standing in a hall of mirrors.

"You might have the upper hand right now, but it won't last," I taunted. I blinked away the dots of light scattered across my vision. My fingers balled into a fist.

The windows of the truck, along with the apartments behind it, cracked. It sounded like a resounding sonic boom, a piercing decibel that I could practically feel in my chest. The splintered glass was spreading as if it were contagious, jackknifing through the ground beneath it. Flames poured from the gaps in the earth, rising from its depths and forging a path for itself.

Within seconds, the air grew thick with the outpouring of soot. I breathed through my nostrils as the fire expanded. It was like controlling another limb; a feeler with a mind of its own.