Cloud and Flame

He was there, in the flames. There was nothing but the flames and him. He stood there looking at her. But as soon as the dream had come, it began to go horribly wrong. The flames began to flicker and die and he began to fade from her vision. A vile creature invaded her dream as he was pulled away into the darkness. A creature of evil. There were some who broke the law and they were criminal, but this went beyond. This was the evil of one who desired only power and did not care if innocents were destroyed in the journey to such power. That evil, that darkness, began to consume her.

She fought it.

The darkness wanted her. She was powerful. At the command of evil she could do much for its desires. She could bring any resistance to its knees and crush it beneath her feet. It would be so simple.

She raged against the venomous void that reached for her.

For a moment, she saw him again. The fire rose high and held the darkness at bay. But he faded away. Time fluctuated and he did not come. Why did he not come?

Because there were three distinct possibilities.

There was a city. An old city. A city of a thousand year before, of poured stone and glass. There were humans as well. They stared at her in awe. As it should be. But it was hard to remember why. These were the people she was meant to...

The creature of evil was again before her, baring her way to the top of the mountain. But there was no mountain. Not anymore. She had not returned to the flame. She had not died before she was born. It was a puny little thing, no taller than her knee, but it stood before her with great confidence. His mind was inside of hers. His mind was poison.

The poison spread.

And then she knew. She did not remember, she knew. This was her city. There were none here who could oppose her. She was powerful!

Energy suffused her, energy she was eager to display. They would soon know, all how dwelled in this city. They would know her power and bow before her. She began to indulge in wanton destruction. The screams of the humans preceded the sirens of an emergency response team by only a few seconds.

He called out to her, but she could not hear him.

Then there was another. One like her. That is, it was as big as her and created from the same materials, with the same purpose in mind, but she sensed in it five separate consciousness. The energy signature was something that she recognized. They were like him.

But the cloud fogged her mind.

She knew.

She launched herself at the metal warrior before her, locking her jaws on its wrist before it could bring its sword to bear. The five minds that were one within the warrior brought their other fist down upon her neck, jarring her, but not forcing her to let go. She whipped her tail around so that the tip of it struck them in the chest. Sparks flew. Still her jaws held to that wrist.

They struck her again. She jerked her head down and to the side bringing them to their knees. They dropped the sword but at the same time struck her hard across the muzzle. They jerked free and backed up several steps. And then time warped. She staggered to her feet and in that time, the metal warrior had changed. It's sword was gone and in it's place was a heavy blaster. Before she had recovered energy slammed into her.

The cloud thinned. She knew those across from her. They were Time Force. And they were preparing to fire again. She got to her feet and leapt out of the way as the plasma left the barrel of the weapon. Then she running, she was soon far from the city, underground... she was again underground. Injured this time. It became difficult to move. She was tired. Her regeneration systems were kicking in.

Flame warred with cloud, but the mercy of oblivion stayed the conflict, and she fell to sleep.

In the dream, he called to her, as just before the battle. This time she could hear him. She could hear him calling, calling for not only her power, but for her to cease her assault. She knew now that he had something to prove. It had started as a power trip for him. And for a moment, in the dream, this bothered her. She had not been created to provide a man with power.

He was a proud man. He had always had to fight for everything he'd gained. Nothing had been given to him and nothing had come easy. It had been natural for him desire her for her power. He was too proud to admit that in this case he had been wrong. He had called for her to cease her attack.

She had been unable to.

The evil one was back. He was a puppet, but so was she. He did was he was told to, and she did as she was made to. Her flame was doused by the cloud of venom. She woke up.

Before she could resist, she was again in the city of a thousand years before. The five of them were again before her, clad in a single metal body. She growled. Her city. Not theirs.

They struck first. The sword whistling through the air, almost cutting time itself. She ducked and charged. Her back was scored by the flat of the blade but she ignored the damage and rammed her enemy, throwing them to the ground. Ths struggled to reach their feet, but she did not allow them to. Kicking the sword away she pounded away at the metal body until the five of them were retreated, leaving the body behind.

I've won!

She pounded on the enemy one more time before raising her head to the sky and roaring in triumph. Somewhere below her the little thing that wanted to control her was celebrating as well.

Then he called to her.

She turned to see a man clad in the deep red of the flames of her dreams. He was standing upon a building. Bending a bit and stretching her neck, she was eye to eye with him. For a moment, the cloud was gone. She was free. There was something upon her body but she couldn't get at it. He drew his firearm and pointed it at her. He was going to shoot at her.

He was going to shoot at her!

Fast. It was the fastest she had ever moved. Her head snapped forward, her jaws snapped shut. She crushed him between her jaws. He died instantly.

No. Damnit no. Fire consumed her and the cloud but still she was not her own. She was not herself. She had killed him. Her poisoned mind had desired to do so and she had done it. His body lay broken and bleeding upon the roof of that building. Already it was devoid of anything that had made it him.

She whimpered deep in her throat. The fire continued to roar and she encouraged it to build higher, hotter. It began to consume her. Not her body, her. She had dreamed. She had known.

There was one more chance.