Lio's name was torn from Galo's throat as he took in the Burnish's injuries. His left arm was completely gone, his right arm only a little bit better off; his legs weren't more than stumps. Even much of the blonde's hair had been burned away. It didn't help that his chest was a smoldering mess of flesh and ash, the rest of his skin pale and gray like it could flake off any moment.

Could he be rescued at this point? His body was floating away in the wind, the rise and fall of his chest nonexistent.

Shit, Galo cursed as he felt for a pulse. He's alive but he isn't breathing. What am I supposed to do? When that girl was dying he tried to reignite her core using his own fire, but I'm not a burnish. I don't have any fire to give him.

Yes you do.

Galo froze. There was that voice again, this time speaking in a chant directly in his head.

"You're the Promare, aren't you?" He asked aloud despite being pretty sure they could hear his thoughts. Maybe they were answering his desire to help his friend.

Yes, they answered. They seemed thrilled for him to have recognized them. You may not be, as your kind refers to our hosts, a Burnish; however, we can sense your strong spirit. It rages like a fire itself.

"Will I be able to save Lio with it?"

He heard a sound not unlike jingling bells roll around his mind. Laughter, perhaps?

Not with your will alone, but fortunately our host wills us to protect and aid you. If you wish to save him, then we shall help you.

"What do I do?"

"Give up," Kray demanded as he made his appearance. It nearly caught Galo off guard from where he hovered over Lio in his mech.

In classic Galo fashion the firefighter held up his hand in a "stop" motion.

"I wasn't talking to you! Besides, when have I ever given up?"

"You're about to. You think you can save him?" The older man taunted, face grim. "If you do, then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought. He's as good as dead, and if he wasn't I'd finish the job. You both ruined my plans. Humanity is doomed because of you."

"No, it's not. Lio and I can stop this!"

"You can't do anything if you're a pile of ash!" Kray roared. He lifted an arm and aimed an arc of fire straight at the firefighter. At the same time Galo readied his drill, teeth gritting in determination.

"Don't get in the way of rescue operations!"

They flew at each other. Right when Kray's flames were about to wash over the young man he felt a familiar warm wash over him.

And then, much like Lio before, Galo Thymos was gone.

Kray noticed something change about Galo the moment his flames hit. Not only wasn't he burning, but his entire demeanor changed. He drew himself up more. His face, which usually had emotions of all ranges etched onto it, went neutral. And his eyes. The child Kray new had always had blue eyes with pinpricks of ruby in them. Now? They were glowing in three shades of fire. They were not the eyes of a child, but of something ancient.

"The flicker of the candle light," someone sang with Galo's mouth, "it hypnotizes like your stare. The silica inside the magma will ensure a major flare. The pyro in us wants to watch the kingdom of your castle burn." He pointed at Kray like he was issuing a jury's verdict. "But this is gunna be your wake up call, the final stone unturned."

"Who are you?" Kray questioned. He felt like he'd heard the voices before, but for some reason the details eluded him.

Whatever it was inside Galo continued singing like Kray hadn't spoken. He began walking forward, his drill and mech having been melted away from the strength of Kray's attack.

"Skies so riddled we won't see the stars." A finger pointed to the night sky fading into dawn above them before his arm dropped back to his side. "Oxygen to breathe again. The iron and aluminum. The only jewels! The only jewels that we have left!"

Kray tried to burn Galo once again, but this time when his flames connected he felt his control over them sever. Within seconds he found himself unable to produce anything from his left palm.

"What did you do?"

He threw out his other hand in frustration, but again nothing happened. It was only when he gazed into fiery eyes that he realized.

"You're the Promare, aren't you?" He was met with a nod. "Why did you stop him from letting you burn? You could have scorched the entire world by now!"

Galo, or the Promare, shook his head.

"The gallant ones," he pointed at himself with one hand while gesturing to Lio with his other arm, "will form a new union in fire and blood."

"Then I'll just stop you. If my plans failed because of you, then it is only right your plans fail because of me. I have more freezing bullets that will put an end to your existence."

"You can't freeze us. The gallant ones will fight until every spark of hope is gone. Please believe us."

Kray closed his eyes in rage. He pulled a gun from his pocket and took aim at Galo with little thought. He missed the frown marring the other's face as he prepared to fire.

"I will extinguish you!"

"You are the engine and the power," the Promare sang. "Let's fight this tooth and nail. I am the pilot in this game and this team will never fail!"

"Shut up!"

He pulled the trigger, but the moment the bullet came into contact with Galo tendrils of fire crushed it like glass. Kray could only stagger back as he fired all the bullets in his gun while Galo burned brightly. Once the gun clicked signaling it was empty the firefighter began closing the last few feet between them.

"The flicker of the candle light it hypnotizes like your stare," he repeated. Without warning Kray felt himself being picked up by the collar of his lab coat. "The world is going straight to hell. You turned away, but do you care?"

"I never wanted to be a Burnish! Of course I never listened to you!" Kray shouted. "I wanted you all gone!"

"The pyro in us wants to watch the kingdom of your castle burn. If we can give them time so they can change, I'm thinking they can learn."

The last part was mostly to himself. A moment later Kray was unconscious on the ground. A bruise lit up his jaw but at least he was alive. Seeing that he was taken care of though, the Promare let themselves break their connection with their temporary host.

"That was so weird!" Galo yelled when he snapped awake. The entire time he'd felt like he'd been watching a movie.

Use us, the Promare reminded him. Save Lio.

He stopped freaking out immediately. His brow set with determination, he rushed over to Lio's side the moment he'd picked up on the urgency in the Promare's request.

Lio was burning out.

"Nope. I'm not going to let that happen." Galo vowed as he began chest compressions. It seemed like the ball of flame sticking out of Lio's chest might relight his core if he kept doing them. "I'm not letting you die!"

Wrong way.

"What are you talking about? What am I—" He remembered what he'd witnessed in the cave. "Oh. CPR? I can do that."

Without hesitation Galo scooped the fireball into his hands and brought it to his lips. In a single bite he filled his mouth with fire. Then, after tilting Lio's head up with one hand while the other opened the blonde's jaw, he kissed him.

Please wake up, Galo begged as he breathed the flames into his friend in one long breath. We have a planet to save. And, well, I sort of feel like we're friends. I can't have my friend dying on me, can I? We still need to get to know each other better too. We can go discuss things over pizza. Do you even like pizza?

He pulled away, eyes anxiously roving over his friends form. His eyes had been closed during the kiss but it appeared the parts of his body that were once flaking away had regenerated.

Lio opened his eyes half a second later. Galo was sure in that moment magenta was his favorite color.

"Galo?" The blonde spoke weakly.

"You made it!"

"You saved me."

The firefighter gave him a thumb up.

"I did! The Promare helped."

Lio seemed confused until a small smile graced his face.

"Heh. Looks like I got you to light a fire after all."

At his words Galo started screaming. He outright dropped Lio from his hold, his limbs to busy flailing as he tried to justify his starting a fire to save his friend. A warmth unlike anything Lio had felt before thrummed in his chest before he remembered what the Promare had told him before he'd begun burning.

"Galo," he cut in.

"Yeah, Lio?"

"I get you don't like starting fires, but can I ask you to start one more with me?"

Galo gave him a look. "Will it save the world?"

"Yes."

They exchanged grins.

"Then let's do it."

Song used: Gallant Ones by mpi and Benjamin Anderson