My Logic Says 'Burn'

Taylor gasped as she awoke, the phantom feeling of burning running through her.

She reached out to the insects within her range by instinct, only to discover her range was a fraction of what she was accustomed to, and the ability to command them was likewise limited.

But even with that range, she was still able to sense Lung, crouched over a charred body.

Taylor rose to her feet, rage at Lung for killing her burning within.

A strange sensation brought her attention to her hands, upon which dark blue fires burned.

She clenched her fists with a grim smile.

Time to see how much Lung enjoyed being set alight.

{}

Tattletale had her head turned to watch the fight between the new Cape and Lung while trusting Regent not to let her fall.

Her costume was somewhat impressive, she had to admit, especially considering the Cape had made it herself.

For a moment the Capes confidence standing against Lung gave Tattletale hope, but then they met.

In mere moments the Cape was defenceless.

And then the inevitable.

Tattletale tried to look away, but couldn't.

Instead she watched the consequences of her actions fall upon an innocent, someone just now trying to be a hero, to do something to help the city.

And then, shortly after the Cape was dead, a new figurr emerged from the darkness, charging at Lung.

Their costume was a match for that of the other Cape, clearly marking them as partners of some description, but the blue flames on their hands marked their powers as notably different.

Lung roared, and exhaled flames in their direction, only for the flames to be consumed by the Capes fire, turning blue and against Lung.

Tattletale turned her attention back to where they were going, praying in her head that this other Cape would get the vengeance they deserved.

{}

Taylor felt a savage grin cross her face, at the feeling of her flames consuming the ones Lung was using against her, that he'd killed her with already.

Sure, this new ability to completely neutralise the threat he posed had come at the cost of weakening her insect powers, but those hadn't been anything great in the first place, so it wasn't much of a cost.

But these flames, they were strong.

If hard to control.

A wave of her hand, and the fires flew out to eat Lungs fire and make a start on the villain himself.

And also incinerate some of her insects still in the area.

Not that they were any loss, when about all she could do with them was identify Lung as a threat and send them to swarm him.

Lung spat another blast of fire at her, and Taylor let her own consume it again.

An unfamiliar sensation ran through her, and it took Taylor a moment to realise she was having fun.

This was like school, just reversed.

There her bullies could do what they wanted to her, and she was unable to do anything about it.

Here?

Here she was facing the cities most notorious villain, and his powers were useless against her, while she could still hurt him.

He breathed a sustained fire at her, and Taylor laughed, a vicious sound even to her own ears, as she brought her hands up to let her fire consume it.

And then Lung crashed into her.

There was a painful snap, and her left arm erupted in pain.

And then she landed on her back, down the street.

She tried using her left arm to stand, but fell back at the pain shooting up it in response.

She tried her right arm instead, and made it to her feet, to see Lung stepping towards her.

"Weak," he snarled, those of her flames that still burned falling off him as new scales regenerated.

Taylor grasped a handful of flames, and cast it at him.

Only for them to die out on the way without regular fire to keep them burning.

Lung laughed.

She tried falling back, maintaining their distance, but with her arm distracting her she wasn't able to move fast enough, and Lung kept drawing closer.

She tried building up her fires, to burn Lung when he got close enough, but wasn't prepared by the time Lung moved, pinning her to the ground once again, pressing against her arm and making her cry out in pain.

And then Lung brought his arm down upon her, smashing the lens over her right eye, sending glass shards into her skin.

And then again.

And again.

And-

Blackness.

{}

Taylor staggered to her feet, hand pressing against the hole in her mask.

It took her a moment to realise she was using her left arm, the pain having vanished.

She could still feel the insects, so Taylor tried summoning forth the flames again, but nothing came.

Instead, Taylor felt a strange, cold sensation passing over her.

She glanced down, to see stone forming over her costume.

She blinked as it was coming to her mask, to find things changed as she opened her eyes.

Her sight from her right eye, the one looking through the broken lens, was normal, but her left eye was different.

It took a few moments of her turning her head from side to side before it clicked.

Somehow her left eye was able to pick up heat and electricity, while normal light was completely blocked out.

A flash from the corner of her left eye reminded Taylor what was happening, and she ran back towards where she'd been fighting Lung.

This time for sure.

{}

Lung stepped back from the body, satisfied that he'd made sure the Cape wasn't coming back, even if those rumours of some kind of resurrectionist Cape were true.

Her power was strong, but she was foolish, inexperienced.

Her power may have been able to negate his fires, but he was more than just the one aspect of his powers.

But she hadn't even thought about that, assuming he wouldn't think of hiding a real attack behind a smokescreen of fire.

If Lung was anyone else, he might have wanted to see what she could have become once broken to his will, but Lung needed no gang of Capes to prove his strength.

Similarly a more foolish boss might have taken her back to one of the gangs houses, to make money from the Cape who stood against Lung, with her hands imprisoned to block her from using her powers, but Lung was all too aware of how a Cape could make an unexpected escape from their captors.

So instead he burned her body next to that of her teammate.

The teammate he had burned for daring to stand between him and the thieves who had dared steal from him.

Sometimes a message had to be sent.

It didn't change the fact that the Undersiders had got away, but Lung would be content with chasing them off for now.

And the next time they set foot within his territory would be the last.

He turned his head at the sound of a heavy footstep, before turning to face this third challenger of the night.

For a moment it seemed as though someone had placed a statue in the street for some reason, only for the stone figure to take a step forward.

He froze.

For a moment stories of the Jizo, the stone guardians of children from his homeland, crossed Kentas mind, before he shook it off.

Even if the Jizo were real, they were guardians against Yokai, not yakuza or other gangs.

And they didn't look like the children they protected…

Lung ignored the chill that ran down his spine, and leapt forward with a roar, blasting fire over the figure.

Once again his fire did nothing, but at least the living statue didn't turn it against him.

He stopped his fire, it was more distracting to himself than his opponent after all, and lunged forwards to smash his opponent into the ground.

Only to have his arm caught by his opponent, who proceeded to plant their other fist into his face.

The punch had no technique, but the power behind it more than made up for the fact.

Much like Lungs own blows.

He tried freeing his arm, but the statues grip was too strong, and they landed a second blow to his head.

His arm tore free as Lung grew larger, but before he could make use of his new strength, the statue threw its entire strength into a final blow.

And everything went black.

{}

Taylor straightened from where she'd laid out Lung, turning to face the motorbike she heard approaching.

These new powers felt satisfying, in a different manner to the fire ones she'd so recently lost.

At Winslow, Hess and some of the other bullies were that much stronger and tougher than her, but here and now she'd proven stronger and tougher than Lung.

As an afterthought, she set the insects instincts back to normal, letting them scatter back into the darkness.

The bikes headlight made her right eye all but useless, but her left eye could see electricity all over the bike and its rider, raising a certain hope within her.

A hope that was answered as the bike came to a halt and Armsmaster stepped off of it.

"I saw you knock out Lung," he said slowly, stepping forward without drawing his halberd. "Do you mind if I sedate him until reinforcements arrive?"

Taylor could almost feel her heart skip a beat.

Armsmaster had seen her win the fight, and was asking her for permission?

Best night ever.

"Of course," she answered, her voice unfamiliar.

Armsmaster walked up to Lung, making sure to keep her in his sight, before drawing his halberd to plunge its end into him.

The sedative presumably applied, he withdrew his halberd and faced her fully, weapon still in hand but not in place to attack.

"I trust we won't have to fight," he stated.

"Why would we?"

"Capes, people with powers like you, me and him, are mainly classified into two groups," Armsmaster explained. "Heroes like me, who protect people, and villains like him, who harm others and seek only to benefit themselves. Heroes and villains therefore fight each other."

Oh, he was asking if she was a hero or villain.

Why did he need to explain what each meant?

"I want to be a hero," she responded.

Armsmaster nodded.

"In that case there are some things we'll need to discuss. Would you mind accompanying me to the Rig? It is where the Protectorate, the government sponsored hero team, is based."

He paused, tilting his head slightly as the electrical activity next to his ear intensified.

"Right, I am Armsmaster, leader of the cities Protectorate forces. And you- oh, never mind."

It took Taylor a moment to realise he had been about to ask for her name, only to somehow realise she hadn't chosen one yet.

"My bike isn't rated for you to ride with me," he continued instead, "so we will need to wait for my PRT backup. While we wait, would you mind telling me what happened here? Were those Lungs victims," he asked, indicating her bodies.

Somehow Taylor got the impression that someone, somewhere, was burying their face in their hands.