Chapter 13: Fire Ant

There was no time for even a brief. We were given coordinates and were expected to act. Our target was a class A threat, so we’d gotten suited up and ready to go in the field. No training, and no backup. Pamela made it clear that the other squads were busy, and that we were the only ones who could handle it. I think that was just her way of showing us that she wanted to give us another chance, and that failing this mission had hard consequences. From her perspective, I guess I understood why she would summon us, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking that we were severely undertrained to tackle a titan head on.

Fire Ant, an incredibly ironic title for someone so huge. From what it looked like at a distance, he was standing at over sixteen meters high, completely engulfed in flames. He stood like a beacon along our horizon, the four of us moving closer to him quickly. As for the actual mission tonight, we needed to detain the threat, and if that wasn’t possible, terminate him.

Our coordinates led us not too far, as we were still relatively close to the Serva campus compared to the rest of civilization. We had been flying for only a couple short minutes, taking north past the vineyard and our training campus furthest from the main campus. In fact, the open space almost looked like a military base further down, close to something I had seen before…

“Just another minute more I suspect, before we reach him,” Dessi said, snapping me out of my daydream. I needed to focus, Aster’s solidified dark construct carrying Rynn and herself like a floating plate to the location, while Dessi and I went airborne above them with our natural flight.

Natural flight—a concept that was foreign to me until I joined The Brother’s Code. In the three years I had been free, not once did I try doing such a thing, because I hadn’t even been aware that I had the ability to fly. Back at base, I’d taken a leap of faith before the mission and trusted my body to handle the rest. And it worked. Same for my other underused powers, because after Rachel had rescued me, I stopped being that super powered alien everyone had wanted me to be.

I needed to push my boundaries now. I had vowed to keep my secret to myself, but this was a different ballpark now. And I needed to use these powers to undo the wrongs that my enemies had done.

“Do we have a solid plan for this?” Rynn asked me, the three girls turning their heads my way for confirmation.

I wished we had more intel for the giant we needed to beat down, but we didn’t. I didn’t want to work out a strategy just yet, in the off chance our predictions were off. “We need to get closer and assess the situation, make calls when we can see up close what we are dealing with.”

“He is in forest land,” Dessi added.

“Yeah, seems like the perfect spot to detonate,” Aster teased. “Wrap this mission up quick and easy.”

“We can’t say that he will stay here forever, and we don’t know whether the horizon is cleared,” I followed. “We stop here. The radiation from this heat… I could already tell that would be a problem.” We were standing on a hill about a mile away from him, getting front row seats to the destruction he was doing to those trees. He lashed out on them, looking down, as if he were searching for something below. This was pretty consistent, going on for a whole forty seconds now as I tried conducting a plan.

As for a reason for him being here, I had no idea. He could be an unassociated supe, a runaway from one of the nearby cities who’d recently triggered his powers. Or maybe, a super villain? Guess there was only one way to find out.

I was ready to spring forward without my team, Dessi quickly stopping me before I could go airborne. “Wait, what are you doing?”

“You three stay here.”

“Hey, it’s no time to be a hero and cop all the glory,” Rynn sassed.

I smiled. “I’m not trying to. I’m the best candidate to approach him right now, at least until we get more information on him. I can handle high heat. If I need you girls, I will signal you for help. Doubt I’d need it, though.”

“Well, isn’t that all so very noble of you, Liam,” Aster teased. “But something tells me even if you do wound up needing us, you wouldn’t call us to come out and play.”

“Have faith in me, Aster. I am a man of my word.” I took off, that worried look on Dessi leaving with me. I had this under control, I had to—it was one of the reasons those bastards wouldn’t let me go. I was too much of a tool to Sigma-RE, and this mission would mark the first time I’d get to use my powers to help humanity for a change, and not some sadistic bastards in lab coats.

I approached the target, the high heat practically rolling off my skin no problem. My body compensated for the low levels of oxygen without me trying, and soon, I found myself underneath the belly of the beast.

“HEY!” I cried out, choosing this lower level closer to the ground so I wouldn’t pose a threat to him. Figured I could try reasoning with him first, the humanoid walking ball of flame immediately stopping to acknowledge me.

“Leave me alone!” he cried, but that voice… almost sounded like a kid’s. “I don’t want to deal with you!”

I triggered a stats read, thinking to myself Open System Screen. I wanted to dismiss the possibility of him being associated, and to my surprise, he was.

With The Brother’s Code’s Delta Region.

That would make sense as to why he was here, so close to Serva. Had he escaped?

“Hey, I just want to talk! I’m not here to hurt you!” I shouted, my voice broken by the roaring inferno pouring out of his enormous body. I ascended higher up so he could hear me better, but that was when I noticed the crystal-like core on his chest, and encased inside, a kid no older than fifteen years old.

“Get away from me!” he wailed, the boy bringing his hand up and making the titan drop his over my head. I was expecting his speed to correlate with his size. He nearly clipped me out of the sky, his hand of hot fire slamming over a row of alders instead. It would be stupid of me to try and reason with him again; he already showed me he had no interest in talking anything out, but I should at least try.

“If you could quit trying to swat at me like a fly, then I’d like to show you that I can help you!”

“You can’t help me! No one can! They are hiding her from me. I need to know where she is!”

“What?” I whispered to myself, the boy pressing forward with a huge step into the grove.

I intercepted him, got right in his way again. “Who is she? Who are you looking for?” I asked him, flying up to the crystal where I noticed the desperation behind his sorrowful face. “Who is hiding her from you?”

“They took her from me! I promised I’d find her! I promised I’d find my mother!”

I couldn’t make sense out of his words. Who was this ‘they’ that he kept referring to? The Brother’s Code? Sigma-RE?

No, I was assuming too much. I didn’t know anything about this kid or his mother. For all I knew, he could be talking about something that had happened before his transformation. I needed to dig deeper, but he wouldn’t let me, the sadness in his eyes suddenly turning into rage.

“No, you are one of them!” he cried, his speculation making my jaw drop. “You are one of the devils who took my mother, and now, you are here to take me!” His towering vessel spread the clouds in the sky with a murderous roar, making the air around me shake. “I am going to make you give her back, you bastards!” He was bent on being hostile, his jowls opening up to spit at me a huge spinning fireball. I didn’t ward it, taking it head on, letting my body absorb the flames. Another one of my specialties, energy absorption. But I had to suspect it had some limitations. For instance, there was no way I could swallow up his vessel’s heat, not from something that big.

It wouldn’t matter anyway, because he wasn’t going to give me a chance to retaliate, chasing his fireball attack with a clean punch.

I hadn’t seen it coming, the kid using the ball of flames for cover. I used my hands to hold back the punch, but it brought me down quickly, with a wicked speed ready to slam me right inside the ground. I wouldn’t budge though, letting the heels of my shoes sink a few feet down while I tried slowing down his momentum. He was pretty strong, but nothing I couldn’t handle; at least, that was what I had hoped.

Soon enough, he made his second move, the contact I had with his skin being used against me. Slowly I started sinking in, from my hands, down to my wrists and arms, before I realized what was actually going on.

This brat was trying to absorb me!

“Warhead!” Dessi cried from behind us, and then I heard a shrill noise followed by a torrenting wind, black shadows rushing past on each side of the titan’s head. Aster looked like she had missed, but then I realized it was a distraction, her constructs changing course, the two spears turning around behind him.

She wanted to get his attention, and did a pretty good job at it, the boy of the vessel ordering his titan weapon to pivot his waist around, just enough to expose the crystal in his chest. It was a slight angle, but Aster and Rynn had it covered, the two working as a team for a change.

It was a gratifying scene to see; Aster uprooted her construct to give Rynn a foundation to stand on, while boosting her up to the crystal’s level. I remember invulnerability being one of Rynn’s perks, so she tackled the infernal heat head on. She swung her default weapon over her head, her halberd ready to pierce the crystal shard in the titan’s chest. And with a battle cry, she did just that, trying to break the boy free from the encasement.

I had enough time now to break myself from his hold, Aster’s diversion working in my favor. He was distracted, preoccupied with Rynn instead.

“See, I told you you wouldn’t call us,” Aster said, bringing herself on her construct toward me.

“I had it under control.”

“Not from where I was standing.”

“Warhead, are you all right?” Dessi cried, moving to my right while I watched the sparks fly from above.

“I’m fine, but we have to help Forger. I don’t think her enhanced blade is going to cut through the crystal.”

“So what’s the plan?” Aster asked me. “Looks like that child inside is the one calling all the shots.”

“I might be able to absorb its power, but… I’m not sure if that would trigger something. After all, he is putting out a lot of heat.”

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“What is our alternative? I can only curse humans, at least for now. And the kid is inside that crystal. I wouldn’t be able to reach him. Not only that, my constructs don’t fare well against all of that heat. You already witnessed that, Liam. And finally, there is no point in me making familiars if they can’t even touch the guy.”

“What are your familiars even made out of?”

“A variation of flesh and blood. As for my constructs, those are just solidified energies with a low gradient.”

“But I thought you also had intangibility?”

“That ability isn’t listed on her stats, though,” Dessi confirmed.

“But I’ve seen Sorceress phase in and out of floors.”

“With the aid of my constructs only,” Aster verified. “I cannot do it on my own, which brings it back to my constructs not being able to handle such heat.”

“Hmm, I was thinking that we could have you go in there and grab him, Aster. But, that plan seems to be flawed.”

“Power him down, Warhead,” Dessi suggested, Aster and I both turning to her. “While my mind manipulation is limited, I may be able to distract him enough for you to absorb his heat. That way, Sorceress can pull him outside of the chamber he is in, and our mission would be a success.”

“Oracle, there’s a good chance that I may detonate,” I reminded her.

“We will be fine,” she said with a smile. “Don’t worry, Warhead. I believe that you are in full control.”

So much faith in someone she barely knew. Maybe this was the type of faith that we’d learn to share with each other. I gave her a sure nod, just as the sound of revving up had all of our heads turning north. It was Rynn and a canon, shaping her halberd into a blast strong enough to push the boy and his vessel down.

We escaped just in time, the titan falling on its ass. I ordered my team to move, noticing that Rynn’s blast barely made a scratch on the crystal.

“Shit! What is that thing made out of?” Rynn grunted, landing right next to me.

“We got a plan for Aster to phase the kid out, and hopefully leaving the titan body out of commission. But first I need to absorb the flames. Oracle has it covered.”

“Then I’ll cover Oracle. Make it quick, Warhead.”

That was the plan. Each of us maneuvered around the fire giant while he tried to stand up, but Dessi was already on it, levitating a safe distance away from Fire Ant. She took two fingers to her forehead with her other hand stretched out, pointing at the boy. Aster stood on standby, and Rynn—wait, what was she doing?

Damn it, Rynn wasn’t trying to cover Oracle at all! She didn’t even give her a chance to mind manipulate him.

“Forger, back down!” I cried out, but it was no good. Rynn was incredibly fast on the ground, changing her cannon back into a halberd so she could slice at the titan’s ankles. She was trying to bring him back down again, but there was no reason to, the threat seconds away from being under Dessi’s powers.

This assault on her part got the boy swinging. His target was shifted, Rynn under a lot of pressure now. This was bad, because I needed our opponent distracted long enough for me to absorb the heat. His movement would cause a problem for me, and Rynn’s eagerness to take on everything on her own was getting in the way of us succeeding in this mission.

I turned around to see something else I didn’t expect, Dessi having a hard time taming Fire Ant. She was straining up there, and I had no clear entry point to take this brat on.

“ALL OF YOU WILL PAY!” he raged as he tried swatting Rynn off, triggering something inside me to move.

“Warhead, I can’t manage him!” Dessi cried. “The target might be too far, and the interference is too high.”

“Don’t get close, Oracle!” I ordered her, rushing to Rynn’s help. I could tell she was losing steam, her speed whittling away. Call it a gut feeling, but I just knew she wouldn’t walk away from this fight, no matter how tired she was. So before Fire Ant could crush her into the ground with a hand slam, I whisked Rynn away from his trajectory.

I didn’t want to gamble and find out how tough skinned she was, bringing her somewhere far enough in the forest for safety. When I let her go, she dropped down to one knee, begging her body to get back up again. I swung my arm under her shoulder and sat her against a tree, the stern gentleness in my eyes getting across to her. “Wait here, let your team handle it. You’ve done your part, Rynn.”

“I can’t… get my weapons to penetrate him,” she panted. “Not the crystal. And my halberd barely sliced through muscle. If I had more time, I could figure out how to take him down.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” I smiled. “Just sit tight. I’ll come for you when we’re done.”

“W-wait, Liam—”

“And don’t try teleporting your way back either!” I hollered as I flew away from her. If she decided to stop being stubborn and heed her captain’s orders, I should have some peace of mind, knowing she’d be safe before I went back to the fight.

What I came back to was what I expected, for the titan to change course after realizing what Dessi was trying to do. Unfortunately for him, my team wasn’t weak, especially not Dessi. When the ground shook and Fire Ant launched at her, Dessi was ready, evading his punch with a straight leap into the air, her glowing hand ready to touch the surface.

It was risky, because he was hot as hell. She weighed out the pros and the cons and evaluated her situation, taking on the damages to her body knowing she would be able to heal once she mimicked his powers.

 

Regardless, it was hard to see her being eaten alive up there by that heat, no matter how temporary it was…

I clenched my jaw down, and balled my fists up, then noticed Dessi’s flames rising up her skin. It was my cue, Aster not trailing too far behind. With Dessi taking on his powers, she was now able to get close and attempt her mind manipulation again. From the looks of it, it was working, Fire Ant clenching onto his head, bucking down as he tried resisting Dessi.

Good, keep him still. I’ll handle the rest.

I flew right on top of his head, and pressed my fingers into his skull. This was it. I wouldn’t get another chance. Even at this close enough range, Dessi was straining up there. The kid’s willpower must be high, so I had to finish him off once and for all.

“Shit, don’t fucking blow up!” I grunted, triggering my absorption powers to suck his flames dry.

Thermal energy, it had been the hallmark to who I was for years. My body took it in like it’d been starving for years, and I could feel the heat flowing through my veins. I was getting stronger, this energy starting to heat up my core. Shit, this was what I was worried about. But I couldn’t detonate, not right now! I needed to control it, at least long enough for Aster to slip in and capture him.

“DO IT NOW!”

Aster nodded. “Got it!”

I closed my eyes to concentrate. His skin was still hot, but cool enough for Aster to work her magic. I was grateful she understood what I was going through, probably because she had front row seats to the light show the first time we’d met. She knew how much I hated it, and went in and out as fast as she could.

“I got him!”

That was my cue, both Dessi and I releasing the giant under our control. The knees of the titan dropped on the ground with a loud tremor, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I caught Dessi flying my way.

No, this wasn’t your best move…

I was hot, but then again, so was she…

She wrapped her arms around me lovingly, her face lost in the heat of her inferno. “Don’t worry, Liam,” she whispered. “If you blow up, I can suppress the blast in this state. But… I doubt I’d need to.” Her voice softened. “You’re in control, remember?”

“Dessi…”

“Don’t make your powers your weakness. Your powers are supposed to be your strength…”

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