There's a crowd in my way, and I push them desperately to get to where the action is.
A policeman shoves himself in the way and tries to stop saying.
"You shouldn't be here, kid! Don't you see th-."
I break past him with efficiency so terrifying that I question even how I managed to do it as I duck under his arms and use him as a springboard, blasting off his back with flames. Intervening in the action, I slow myself down to actually grasp the situation at hand.
A tall, purple-haired teenager, who has this really rough look about him, shouts, "Hey! Dipshit! Stop analyzing your books and put up a fight, you coward!" This guy seems like an asshat.
He pushes himself off the ground, swimming through the air, and throws a punch, missing the other fighter as he vaults over to axe kick from above, shattering the ground and knocking the crowd off their feet.
The other guy is about average height with black hair, and he seems to be sharpening his sword with his teeth while fighting, calmly saying, "You're not important enough to divert my attention, you meatheaded dumbass." He blocks with his sheath, showing his lack of concern with the current battle. And that guy seems like a know-it-all.
They waste no time before unleashing their elemental powers, despite the laws around public use of powers to fight. The shorter one channels lightning through his katana, effortlessly swinging it at his assailant.
The taller one gets cut across his torso, but he slows the blade down to the point where it's nothing more than a light graze. His punch glides through the air, clashing against the metal of the blade before him.
The shorter one pulls another blade, channeling energy into both at the same time, demonstrating his skill as a channeler.
The battle leaves me mesmerized. I find myself unable to intervene between the two as it seems like 2 titans are clashing, and I'd just get in the way. But that just makes it more exciting!
Any sense of reason leaves me as I dive headfirst into the conflict, yelling, "I WANT IN TOO!" The two fighters look shocked as a ball of flame heads towards them at a rapid pace. It causes an explosion that engulfs the steps they were standing on.
"Who the hell are you?" They say at the same time. I freeze up, wondering what sort of heroic one-liner I should pull off, but I don't get around to it as the tall guy clearly doesn't want to wait, as he glides through the air and rushes me down.
I get punched, and by the way his punches got blocked by the katana before you wouldn't think he would hit this hard. I nearly bite my tongue as he flings me back before I catch myself. What a freak! He didn't even let me get a word out!
The blood in my mouth starts to drip onto the concrete and evaporates as soon as it hits. "You don't seem like much, so why are you getting involved? You're killing the vibe." I don't understand the words at first due to my ringing ears, but the wind seems to carry the sound over, and I'm surprised by the voice of my attacker.
"You know, for a dude, your voice really doesn't match your build, you meathead." As soon as I say that, I swear I could make out a chuckle from the lightning guy behind him. He looks infuriated as he goes for a kick, but I'm ready this time as I divert his attack off course, smiling as I do so.
He course-corrects the attack, making sure it lands in the middle of my chest with a thud that knocks the wind out of me. My posture is compromised as I fall to the ground to catch my breath, but I can't seem to get any air.
He looks down at me and mockingly says, "Aww, look who can't get any air." With a sphere of what oxygen is currently supposed to be in my lungs. The lightning user swings his sword our way, causing the wind user to lose focus and dispel the sphere. I can finally breathe again! These guys are monsters! This is too much fun!
Smiling while on the ground, I make a mad dash towards the wind user, using the flames to propel me into his face with my knee, crashing against his skull. That wasn't nearly enough payback for nearly suffocating me! Not relenting, I follow up with a wave of flame directly to the stomach, sending him into the park.
The lightning user catches me off guard, slashing me from a distance as the ELE ripples through my wound. Shit! That hurt a lot. My blood feels like it's on fire. But wait, don't I use fire? I look up just to see another attack coming my way. This time, I'm ready as I stretch my hands out to blast the attack.
Instead of facing my fury directly, it adjusts its course towards my wound, instantly piercing my shoulder. The pain is unbearable as I am almost breaking into tears, my nerves screaming louder than ears could ever perceive.
"You're a novice, are you really gonna fight me right now?"
"After what you just did to me? It would be SHOCKING if I wasn't going to."
"Did you really just come up with a corny ass quip like that on the spot?"
"Shut up, it helps me cope with the pain." "Wait, hold on, I got another one. He blitzes me and shuts me up by sending out another slash before I could even get the joke out. Rude! I was already expecting that, and I released a wave of flames that engulfed both of us. The smoke from the aftermath causes me to cough up damn near my body weight.
"Who's got the wind knocked out of them now?" I triumphantly try to hit a pose, but as I'm about to get into stance, I hear a more feminine voice behind me. "Normally, I would've left by now, but your power is so off." I turn around at breakneck speeds and find myself unable to catch a glimpse of who was talking.
"I mean, you're leaking so much ELE it's nauseating. I mean, look around you, the tiny sparks that flew off from your propulsion are now mini wildfires." "Also, you guys have taken this a bit too far. I was excited to see some of the new talent, so I conjured up some illusions to keep the crowd out..."
It takes me a bit of time till I register the fact that people are evacuating not only due to our fight, but my flames are progressively getting bigger.
"I mean, did they not teach you about proximity activation back during school?" The monotone voice echoes into my ear.
"Okay, who the hell are you? And why can't I see you?"
"Maybe you just aren't trying hard enough?" A purple gas fills the surrounding area, clouding my vision. My anxiety spikes, making me forget why I came to this area. And then the clouds morph into a view of the hill me and my brother used to play on. I hear the laughter of the child I once was. It reminds me that I'm no longer him and I never can be. "Ohh? Kinda nostalgic seeing lost family right?"
It shifts to a view of me in my room bed rotting. "One of those days, huh? I feel ya man. Sometimes I don't wanna do nothing either." How's she fucking up my head? This can't be a normal element right?
The vision shifts again as I actually fall into the area shown and it's the day the mansion burned down. What's up with me reliving past trauma recently? "Just so you know I've already seen this happen before!" "What ever kind of mind games you're doing won't work!"
"Oh really?" "Then why are you trembling?" I look down at my hands and see that I am involuntarily trembling. Who would've thought years trauma couldn't be solved in one flashback. God damnit!
The vision shifts for what I can only hope is the last time. The nauseating feeling I get from shifting several times start to wear off as what I see becomes clear. "Oh come on not this one." A burning building crumbles before and without even registering it my body becomes childlike again.
I hear a familiar voice screech and my feet beat the ground as I rush towards the hospital.
"Nova!" "Where are you?!" I frantically rush inside as the rubble starts to block my way and I desperately claw at it to no avail as my hands are left a bloody mess.
"You kind of remind me of a guy I used to know when I was younger. Maybe that's why you're so recklessly stupid." The gas starts to close in on us and at this point I feel powerless to do anything.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" I say, panicking, trying to push the gas out of the way.
"Oh, me?"
"I'm just the CEO of the raider corps."
"But you can call me Lavender."