Chapter 19 "Hero - Part 2"
On this morning, of June 23rd, 2006, Michael Mules awoke with one thought in his mind - death.
This could be it, the day he no longer breathed, the day his life came to an end; most would not move with this prediction, but he somehow managed to get out from his bed, showered, dressed, and left his house for what could be the last time, ignoring the desire to sneak a peak at his sleeping family.
As he drove down his street in the quiet and brisk day, he thought that maybe he was exaggerating with these predictions - but then he reminded himself that the note was meant to be threatening, and the past actions of this woman didn't mean she was talking about a nice chat over coffee between them.
He knew he could very well be heading towards his demise, but it had to be. This woman had nothing but bad intentions for him and possibly everyone who was to attend his high school graduation.
He didn't really know where he was supposed to be and when to be there, but he did have a destination. If Michael was being watched, then she would know that he would be waiting for her to come.
In a few minutes, he reached his school, which stood deserted. Across the street from one side was a dirt road that led to a rocky hilltop overlooking the school; the only thing in that sight was a deserted truck hauling a large tank at the bottom of the hill.
The drive up that road only took a minute. At the hilltop, Michael stepped out of the car and just stood beside it, gazing at the view of the school and the surrounding area, including downtown, where he and Wendy had been the previous night.
I'm sorry I couldn't stay there with you, forever.
The thought that he wouldn't see her face again, feel her touch, hear her, smell her - Michael shook head fiercely. If there was going to be victory on his side, then Wendy couldn't be in his thoughts. What was it he read in a Star Wars book about JedI in battle - attachments can be both a strength and a weakness.
Maybe I haven't mature enough for this. I'm still taking life lessons from movies and books that have laser swords and magic wands.
But those were the best things that he had in which to learn from about being the good guy.Time continued to pass; Michael looked to the football stadium where he could see the stage now setup and ready, with banners and balloons strapped up and hung. The graduates would be seated right in front of it; while there families and friends would sit in the stands.
Would he even get to be there tonight? He had continued to imagine himself walking across that stage and accepting his diploma, people cheering as his name was pronounced.
This was supposed to be one of the greatest days of his life, but instead Michael was just feeling dread
They could all end up not getting to celebrate if this woman got her way. So it meant either it would just be him or everyone who suffered today, and what did a real hero do?
Make that ultimate sacrifice.
More time passed and Michael wondered if he had gotten it wrong; was she going to just pop up during the graduation and attack? He wished this would just happen already.
His ears then heard the calm heart beat of a person coming close from somewhere. Was it her? Michael closed his eyes and just waited; listening to the heart beat getting louder and being joined by footsteps on the dirt ground.
He just breathed and stood still, eyes staying closed, waiting.
Soon enough a lightly familiar voice sounded from behind him. "So the longer you stayed here, the more I thought of how this kid likes to just stand in places quietly to gaze around - but then I figured out that you were waiting for me to show up."
His eyes opened and he slowly turned away from the sight of the school: the woman from the sketch drawing stood just a few feet away from the other side of the car; she was about the same height as Michael, with red hair cut down to her shoulders, well built.
Before now, his image of her settled on a rough, scorned looking woman - but instead, here stood a seemingly pleasant person, with a plain shirt and blue jeans. She just didn't fit the part of a bad guy, but looks were deceiving, of course.
"I'm glad to see you took my note seriously," she said, acting like she was a good friend of his.
He didn't move, staying where he was for now kept the car between them. It took a few seconds for him to speak back. "You're the fire woman."
"Sorry, I guess you haven't been able to identify me under anything else." She bowed her head, slightly. "My name is Tina, and you're Michael Mules, resident iof Los Angeles, scheduled to graduate high school within twelve hours - and secretly has the power of enhanced physical attributes, senses, reflexes, and such."
"How do you know about me?"
She smiled rather warmly.
"It's my job. I can explain it all to you right here, right now. Do you want to sit down," she said, stepping against a large boulder.
"I'm not stepping anywhere near you," he proclaimed, not moving an inch.
"Come on, Michael, haven't you been wondering about these things you can do?" she asked with patience. "You have questions that I can answer. Your abilities, with time, they can grow and you'll become more skilled with them."
Was she actually behaving as if her past deeds hadn't occurred? Michael couldn't believe this woman. His outraged made him move around the car.
"And who's going to teach me, you? No thanks. I wouldn't go anywhere with you, after what you've done."
"Those accidents… were to see if you had guts," Tina told him. "I needed to know if you could handle your powers."
"You put people's lives in danger." He could no longer hide his disdain for her. "And you did it to test me. You're disgusting, no matter how different you act from it."
"Michael, it's best for you to come with me peacefully right now," she said, now in a cold manner, "or I'm going to have to be forceful."
She brushed her hand over the boulder, leaving behind a trail of black on it. "You see I have the power of a volcano, I can create molten hot lava out of the palm of my hand. The fire I threw at you from my car is just a small flicker of my power."
The black streak on the boulder where Tina had brushed her hand became a scarlet red, flickering and oozing a bit.
"It's going to have to be the hard way, Tina," he said without a hint of fear in his voice, and scowling at her name.
"Fine then." Tina extended her arm, shooting out fire. The ball of flame came at Michael so fast that he barely managed to dodge it, rolling over the hood of the car and ducking behind it. More balls of flames soared over the car and fell closely around him.
"Come on, Michael," Tina shouted from the other side. "You need have a better plan than to hide from me."
She threw more balls of fire, one coming in so close that some sparks bounced onto one of Michael's shoes.
"I can just walk around or blow the car into ashes," she continued to say.
Alright, this was going to be a fight - no doubt about it - so Michael would need a plan. If he got too close, she would fry him to a crisp. Maybe a distraction.
Another set of flames came down around him, so without another thought of doubt, he opened the front passenger's door wide enough to reach his arm in. His hand scoured the floor under the seat until he felt a cold metal in his fingers; he quickly grabbed a hold of it, and pulled his arm out, with a metal bat in hand.
More balls of flame came down, with Tina becoming more accurate; Michael moved around the car kneeled down.
"Michael," Tina scowled. "Just say you'll come with me."
"Go to hell!"
Michael stood up from the back of the trunk, grinding his teeth as he threw the bat directly towards Tina. He waited only a second after throwing the bat to jump onto the trunk and leap out into the air.
The bat provided all the distraction he needed; Tina became preoccupied by reaching out and grabbing it. The bat exploded into a burning piece of shard, which she dropped on the ground - and Michael crushed onto her a moment later. They rolled on the ground, and Michael swung a hand into her face once they stopped, his knuckles making impact with her nose.
Her hands, which were holding the zippers of his sweater erupted into flames, forcing him to push himself away. Both stood back up, and Michael braced himself for an attack.
Now Tina had the appearance of the deadly attacker of innocents that he always imagined before, with her faced dirt stained and a her nose dripping blood; when she raised her hands, they into fire.
Now it was up to instincts. Michael jumped to the side as Tina swung one arm downward and then swung the other close to his waste after he darted away again. She continued to throw fired punches and he managed to continue dodging them.
Her swings and stabs became more quick - not to mention rough by each attempt; he knew he couldn't keep avoiding them. In a heavy swing, Michael stepped to his right, causing Tina to nearly fall forward, and he swung his leg into her stomach, dropping her onto the ground.
The woman grasped her hands against the dirt and it began to burn dark around her, followed by it's melting into red liquid; this caused Michael to move back. Tina dugs her hands into the small bits of the burned ground, stood up and charged towards him.
Her punches were now directed solely at his face, with the piles of burning dirt in her hands now turned into red-burning rock. Michael started to block Tina's punches, pushing her arms away with his, careful to avoid the hands and the molten rocks.
He took a hold of her wrists, forcing them away, but Tina raised one of her legs and kicked him in the right elbow, causing his grip on her arm to break loose, and she wasted no time in slashing him on that same arm with the piece of rock.
Even though Michael cried out in pain, he still took action and took her by the torso and tossed her to the side.
Now Tina gripped on the pieces of rock with her best of might; they broke instantly into sparkling dust, and leaving behind a bit of smoke in the air.
"Had enough?" Tina asked rather calmly.
"Don't talk at all," he growled over his arm's burning sensation.
Tina charged with only one flaming hand, which Michael avoided on the first swing and then forced his whole body onto hers, getting them both off their feet - and over the edge of the hilltop.
In the roll down the rock infested and dirt covered hill, Michael managed to eventually catch his footing and slowly and painfully stopped his further descent. Tina continued a bit longer before grabbing onto a boulder; both of them took a few moments to catch their breaths.
They wouldn't be able to continue this on unstable ground, so Michael leaped out of the steep setting and landed down at the bottom, where the road led back to the street and his school.
At that same time, Tina had burned the boulder she stopped herself with and pushed out of its hold into the hill, down towards where Michael just landed. He barely managed to jump away and landed on his back, feeling the hard fall with his body till aching from the roll down the hill.
"You're not doing your classmates any favors," Tina shouted. "I beat you and then they go away flames."
"What?"
Tina slowly started making her way down to the road while saying, "That truck right there, it has two hundred pounds of gasoline that will be running into your fellow graduates in the middle of the ceremony, in flames, courtesy of me."
He looked over to the truck and cursed himself for disregarding it earlier; she was planning to hurt everybody. Like he had suspected.
"You can stop it by coming with me, now," Tina told him. "Or you can learn your lesson to obey me the hard way. They don't have to die for you."
He looked back to her as she finally made it off the hill, examining the woman's torn jeans, bleeding nose and burning eyes, also Michael then looked down at himself; hands and legs bruised from the fall, sweater slightly burned and one arm scorched between the elbow and shoulder.
Had this fighting gotten him anywhere? Was going with her the best solution? Images surfaced from his mind of Mary Jameson's terrified face, the two unconscious classmates in prom, and the hotel residents running for the dear lives - all repeatedly played in his head.
"And what? Put other people's lives in danger to test others like us, no. I'll take my chances in beating the pulp out of you - or die for so they can live."
Her hands became fist of fire once more.
"Have it your way."
To Be Continued