Heat
"Will you do it?" Stanley asked.
"I don't have much choice." Tadashi answered, "If Ms. Hawkins can't cure me then the only way for me to return to normal is to get control. I really don't want to hurt anyone."
"I was hoping you would say that." Jane replied, "I already made your super suit! Its made out of the same fire proof material as the bedding in your room and your robes. I'll have some clothes done by morning."
"Alright, get some rest tonight, tomorrow you start training." Stanley said.
"Would you like something to eat?" Jane asked, "Christopher bring up some dinner and some candles."
"Romancing the new guy already?" the boy, Christopher, replied, "Never expected you to be a cougar Ms. Hawkins."
"The candles are in case he can't eat food, he may need fire for sustenance." Jane replied.
"Uh huh, if you say so." the boy responded, walking out of the room.
"Do you really think I can't eat?" Tadashi asked.
"I don't know." Jane answered, "I've never seen anyone like you before. But it wouldn't hurt to have backup plans. And backup plans for the backup plans."
"Well this keeps getting better and better…" Tadashi said, sarcastically.
Tadashi stared at the plate of food in front of him. He was a little afraid to try some. It smelled and looked good, but what if he really couldn't eat it? His eyes fell on the candle next to the plate on the portable hospital table. Would the fire taste good? Would it taste like anything? Would it be filling? He sighed, and stabbed a slice of carrot with his fork. No point in waiting to find out, right? He put the sliced veggie in his mouth and a look of disgust graced his face. It tasted burnt. He spit it out into his napkin and sighed.
"Was it bad?" Jane asked.
"It tasted burnt."
"Hmm, those were raw. Care to try the fire?"
"Okay…" Tadashi picked up the candle by the metal base that held it in place. He wasn't sure how to go about eating fire. He brought it to his mouth and decided inhaling it would probably be the best way to get it in his mouth without getting wax too. He was a bit surprised when the fire seemingly separated from the wick and flew into his mouth. He was also surprised to find it had a taste. And it was good.
"How was it?" Jane asked once he finished.
"It was actually pretty good. And I feel less hungry."
"Good. Now we know you do, in fact, eat fire so we don't have to worry about you starving to death." She said, writing down their findings in a note pad. "You should try to get some rest after you've had enough. Tomorrow morning you'll be joining Nova and White Tiger in the training hall."
"Wait!" Tadashi called as she was about to walk out the door, "Is there a way to contact my family? I'm sure they're worried about me."
"You'll have to ask Stanley about that. He'll be at the training session in the morning, you can ask him then. Good night Mr. Hamada."
Tadashi stood in his room, looking at his refection in the full length mirror Jane dropped off when she gave him his super suit. His suit was mostly red, with a white belt. The belt had a white, round, buckle, and the top half of his suit had several white lines starting from the belt buckle and going up around his torso making it look like the Japanese Rising Sun. His face was hidden behind a red mask that looked like the Japanese symbol for fire, his fiery hair danced freely behind it. The ends of his gloves and boots has a fire design on the ends of them.
"What do you think?" Jane asked as she entered the room.
"Its… nice." Tadashi answered, "A little tight though."
"You'll get used to it." Jane responded, "Now for the important question, do you want a bedazzled butterfly or smiley face on our back?"
"Um…I…" Tadashi stuttered, "I like the way it is."
"Ah, yes, don't want it to out shine you. Now lets go find out what you can do."
Jane led him to a large room two floors down. Aside from him it was empty. On the wall opposite the door was a window from about halfway up to the ceiling. He could see three people sitting in the room beyond when Jane walked in and took a seat. Aside from Jane he only recognized Stanley.
Sitting beside Stanley was a man in black armor. He had a yellow belt around his waist, with a yellow belt buckle. His boots, a ring around the base of his neck, and arms from about halfway down his upper arm were also yellow. Dark gray bracers were around his forearms. Three yellow circles adorned his torso, one on each side and his chest and one centered below them on his belly. A yellow line connected the two upper circles with the lower one, and the lower one to his belt buckle and connected the upper ones to an identical design on his back. His helmet was also yellow and covered his entire head except for his mouth and chin. A red four pointed star decorated the front of his helmet, the bottom point between his eyes, and the two side points above them.
The woman's suit was far simpler than the man's. It consisted of a white full body cat suit and mask that covered her entire head, small points on the head looked like small cat ears. Three light gray stripes were on each shoulder and hip. Around her waist was a light gray belt that rested at an angle. A green amulet in the shape of a tiger's head hung from the lowest side of her belt. Her fingers looked more like claws than actual fingers. A long black pony tail came from the back of the top of her head and ended about halfway down her back.
"Okay Sunfire," Stanley voice came from a speaker near the window, "Lets see if you can create fire. Focus on creating a small flame in the palm of your hand."
"Sunfire?" Tadashi asked.
"Your Super Hero name." Stanley answered, "Now focus."
Tadashi nodded and did as he was told. He lifted his hand and held his palm flat. He focused on the orange glow of his skin, envisioning a fireball forming in his hand. To his surprise a small fireball actually did appear. He watched the small fire flicker around. It was mesmerizing. Small, glowing, warm. Dangerous. This small fireball could cause so much damage if he lost control. His breath quickened. What if he did lose control? What if he accidentally hurt these nice people who were trying to help him? What if he went home and hurt his family? Or worse. No, he couldn't let that happen. He cannot contact his family until he mastered these new abilities.
"Mr. Hamada!" Stanley yelled, "Mr. Hamada! Calm down!"
Tadashi looked up from the fireball in his hand and saw the four people in the room standing and staring at him. His reflection in the window caught his eyes next, his entire body was emitting large flames and the room was starting to glow with heat. The heat and glow forced the memories of the fire at SFIT back into his mind. He felt the heat claw at him as it tired to steal him for itself. The cold look of utter betrayal on his former professor's face. The scared, sorrow filled, cries of his precious little brother calling out to him as he ran into the fire that changed everything. His brother, if he had just listened to him none of this would be happening. But he didn't listen and now he's trapped as a monster, a walking inferno. He was dangerous.
"Tadashi." he tensed when he heard someone close call his name, "Its okay. Deep breaths Tadashi, deep breaths."
He turned his head and saw Stanley standing a few feet away. Inhaling deeply Tadashi started to relax, the fire dying down with his anxiety. He smiled at the guy holding his shoulder and was surprised to find the guy was shorter than him. Once the fire had completely died he noticed the other three were also in the room.
"That was quite the show Mr. Hamada." Stanley said, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry about that." Tadashi answered, "The fireball brought back some unpleasant memories that I guess sent my brain into overdrive."
"It seems your emotional state has a large influence on your flames." Jane said, "We'll have to work emotional control into your training sessions. But that's for later, for now I want to introduce you to our teammates. You've already met Nova. And this young lady is White Tiger."
"Christopher Parr." the guy said, taking off his helmet revealing himself to be the boy from yesterday, "You can call me Chris."
"May Ramirez." The girl said, pulling her mask back revealing her long, curly, dark brown hair and eyes, and her tan skin. "Nice to meet you."
"Can you try to turn your fire off so we can see your no doubt handsome face?" Jane asked.
Tadashi nodded and closed his eyes, focused on his flames going away. He focused on his fire receding and his true form replacing his fiery one. When he opened his eyes he lifted an arm into his field of vision and was shocked to see the same swirling orange white skin that had replaced his own natural skin. Closing his eyes tighter he tried again. Focus Tadashi! He opened his eyes to find the orange glow still there, taunting him.
"I can't…" He whispered, as a small sob escaped his throat.
That's it for this chapter. Nova's armor was a pain to describe, and I still don't think I did it justice. His and White Tiger's armors are the ones from season one of Ultimate Spider-Man. Christopher Parr is names after Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh and the Parrs from The Incredibles, while May Ramirez is named after May Duck, niece of Daisy Duck, and Audrey Ramirez from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Jane Hawkins is named after Jane Porter from Tarzan and the Hawkins from Treasure Planet. May would be voiced by Raini Rodriguez in her normal talking voice, specifically from Austin and Ally.
Christopher Parr is Sam Alexander's counterpart, May Ramirez is Ava Ayala's counterpart, Jane Hawkins is Hank Pym's counterpart, and Tadashi Hamada is Shiro Yoshida's counterpart. I don't own anything.
