Hey guys! Sorry its taken so long to post another chapter, but with my senior year of high school close to ending it's getting a bit hectic; I have to finish placement testing before the 15th, I have several assignments due... Yeah, it's not fun.
I might not be able to write for a while over the summer either, since my family is going on vacation and my new job as a rec camp councilor. Thankfully, it's just in the mornings, so I'll have free afternoons.
They placed James in a cell once the interrogation was over; they'd give him the same deal as us once he was ready, but for now it was still just Johnny and I. And right now, we were investigating the reports of a possible Conduit.
I flew down and killed my momentum with a few casual steps, my paper wings flying apart as I absorbed them again. Johnny jumped down from above, having followed me from the rooftops - apparently he wasn't very comfortable with transforming into a mass of glass shards to move around, so he opted to run instead.
"Remind me what we're doing here again?" He asked, taking a deep breath and looking around. Clearly, he wasn't comfortable with this area.
"According to the police reports, there might be a conduit around here. This place is known gang territory, so I'm hoping to get them out of here before they piss off the wrong people."
Johnny nodded, looking a bit worried now as we returned to the search.
There were definite signs of a Conduit around this area - several things were scorched, several sections of the road looked like they'd been melted... definitely the work of a fire or smoke Conduit.
Johnny was looking at a gang insignia burned into a wall when I was suddenly blasted from behind, sending me flying forward. My head smashed through a car's windshield, which Johnny was quick to absorb as our attacker revealed himself.
He was a short weasel, but that didn't seem to make him any less dangerous. Red energy swarmed around his arms as he smirked at us.
"This is Red territory; mind telling me why you're here, bro?" The conduit asked, tilting his head.
"Looking for conduits like you" was my answer, absorbing a few loose pieces of paper to make my point and to heal the few cut's I'd just received. His eyes narrowed as the air around him began to shimmer, the temperature rising.
"I already told that fat bastard, I'm not going to join his little Conduit gang. Get lost."
"Wait, what?" I asked, confused - right before a blast of red energy streaked toward my head. Thankfully, Johnny was able to protect me with a shield of glass, which began glowing red as the blast struck; this guy's element was heat itself!
This would be tough.
Johnny left his melting shield behind as he rushed forward, a glass claw forming around his hand before he was knocked away with a punch from the heat conduit. I created a large, origami sword and charged him, though it turned black and began to burn the second it got close to him - the heat was too intense for my paper to handle. I jumped back as he swung again, Johnny attempting to flank him as I looked around for something I could use.
I was forced to jump back again as another blast of heat struck the ground near my feet.
"I told your boss already, leave me alone! I don't want to be part of his stupid 'utopia'!"
"What the hell are you-"
Johnny interrupted me as he charged forward with a roar, managing to scratch the weasel's cheek before being forced back by the high temperatures - which seemed to be climbing higher and higher, as the asphalt around his feet began to bubble.
By now, the two of us were sweating like crazy - it felt like we were in a furnace right now! - while the weasel looked absolutely fine with the artificial heatwave. He didn't seem very fine with his wound, however, and scowled at us before firing a large blast of heat at me.
The blast temporarily blinded me as I shielded my face with my arms and my body a wall of paper, which quickly burned away to ash as Johnny shouted in pain.
When I was able to uncover my face, the heat conduit was gone and Johnny was nursing a sprained ankle. I helped him up and moved him over to a nearby car, where he healed himself with the glass as I thought about the heat conduit's words.
A 'fat bastard' was recruiting conduits to try and create some kind of 'utopia' - and knowing how radical some conduits could get, that was anything but good.
I know this wasn't the best chapter I've ever written, but it's something, right? Besides, this plays into the storyline - see if you can guess who the final boss will be.
Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter and of any ways I might be able to improve the fight scene (aside from making it longer, I know it's short).
