Paragon to Pavement 7

"—oly shit!"

Fire was kinda scary, bro.

Even more scary when people could just pull it out the air and throw it at you.

You weren’t supposed to be able to do that shit with fire, but he really didn’t know much about powers. Only thing he could really say was… “Hothothothot!”

Gloved hands slapped frantically at the blue-white fabric of his brand-new gi, limbs moving fast enough to blur as he did his best to beat back the patch of hot orange spreading up his shoulder. Heat chewed at the collar, the smell of his own singed hair stinging his nose — my hair, nah, c'mon. 

He barely had time to be mad about his shape-up getting ruined before a blur of motion tore at him from the right.

A heavy iron chain wrapped in roaring orange fire swung right at him, Sky leaping back off pure alley-kid instinct. The Hellion holding the chain tore after him, unbothered by the tongues of flame licking up the guy’s ripped red jacket. With a shout, he swung the length of the flaming chain again, a wild arc aimed right at Sky’s skull.

Sky dropped.

His body folded instantly into a low crouch, center of gravity plunging low toward the cracked concrete of Prometheus Park till his knee almost kissed pavement. Burning links whistled over his head, the sheer heat of the swing enough to sting his ears as it washed over his face.

Even still… Too slow, bro.

He exploded upward.

His ‘blue’ flared in his calves, a sudden surge of raw power launching off his back foot; an angular snap-kick pistoning straight up into the open air.

Bone rattled as the rubber sole of his sneaker caught the charging warlock-wannabe square under the chin, the guy’s jaw snapping shut with an audible clack.

All that momentum sent the guy up into the air, lifting him clean off the ground until he landed in a clumsy heap of limp limbs; chain clattering loud on cracked concrete.

Sixteen-year-old Blue Sky took a bouncing step back, sneakers squeaking loud on plaza tile as he stuck his tongue out. “Okay, okay, okayokayokay…” The back of his hand swiped a thick streak of black soot from his forehead. Lungs burned in his chest, heat and exhaustion pushing him forward instead of pulling him down. Even through his kickboxing gloves, his knuckles were raw and bruised from the last ten minutes of fighting, a faint blue aura clinging to his dark skin like a second layer of skin. 

The taste of blood in his mouth mixed with the bitter-pork smell of his own burnt skin and Sky had no idea how long he could keep this going.

All he did know was that — “Whooo!” — that he had never felt better in his life.

Yo…

A hum buzzed through his veins, his ‘blue’ working hard to do what it did. And right now, that was washing out the soreness in his body. This is crazy.

The ‘blue’ did a lot for him since he woke up with it, a power that he didn’t really understand yet but knew enough to play around with. With the good stuff running through him, he could straight up bench press a car now. It was hard, but he could do it.

He could clear a bus in a single jump and bounce around like his muscles were made of springs or rubber bands or whatever. Crazy as hell.

Two months ago, he was still fetching noodles for the Tsoo in the back alleys of Paragon, getting smacked upside the head for being just a minute late.

Now? 

Sky grinned wide as he looked around the small army of demon-loving gangsters circling him in the concrete and tile-laid plaza, dots of red around a single spot of blue. Streetlights flickered against their shirts, shadows dancing crazy and bright as fireballs sparked to life in their palms. 

Now, he was throwing glowing kicks in Atlas Plaza.

"This is looking really bad for you guys!" Sky’s voice rode high and loud, a half-laugh spilling out with each syllable. "I want y’all to know that right now!"

"Kid thinks he's nice.” One of the Hellions, a guy with a red demon mask and arms the size of a lamp-post, scoffed his way. “How?"

"Cus when I feed y’all your teeth." Sky bounced on his toes, the balls of his feet feeling light as air. "You’ll never live that shit down!"

"Burn his ass! Kill ‘im!" A fireball the size of a tire shrieked through the air, detonating exactly where Sky had been standing a split-second prior.

"Who we killin’?"

But Sky was gone. Watch this.

The new hero threw himself into a wild backward handspring, the heat of the blast licking the soles of his sneakers and scorching the concrete. I got this. I so got this. 

Hands met the pavement, blue surging through his muscles to launch him higher. Twelve feet up, the world spun; plaza lights streaking into white lines. Blue Sky carried the backward momentum into a mid-air pivot, blue force flaring bright as his name as he whipped his leg around in a spinning arc. “How my foot taste?”

The meteor kick came down with all the force and so much more momentum, explosive force rocking a charging Hellion right in the temple.

The gangster was out before gravity took him back to the dirt, body skidding off the concrete and into three feet of the park’s manicured grass.

Sky’s soles hit the dirt, but he didn’t stop moving.

“Get him!”

Two more rushed him, taking the gap with chains whipping through the air, links already glowing cherry-red. 

Nah, that angle is trash. Sky’s eyes tracked the swing, lunging forward with pure forward pressure. Back Alley Brawler had told him to keep his hands up, keep the boxing clean, but he wasn’t a boxer. 

Sky dipped his left shoulder to slip the first chain by barely an inch as he slid deep into the pocket. Twisting his hips, the teenager planted his foot and drove a brutal elbow straight into the guy's open chest. “SL 1 Baby!”

The cultist folded, all the air rushing out of him in a wet gasp. “We outside!”

Sky grabbed him by the collar of his red shirt and twisted. Just one pull had the dead weight swing around just in time for the guy to take a sloppy fire-punch meant for Sky.

Right in the face. 

“Watch your fire!” Laughing, Sky shoved his screaming human shield away and threw a twisting cross with his right. Blue light flared tight around his knuckles as he let his fist fly.

And it flew.

Deep into the second Hellion’s jaw.

Teeth flew, spinning like blood-splattered tic-tacs over concrete as the guy went into the air with them.

“Who’s next?” Sky laughed again, the sound bright and ringing over the crackle of fire as he bounced back into a stance. "Who's ne-”

The laughter died in his thoat a split second later as a searing pain slammed right into his ribs from the blindside.

Blue Sky let out a ragged gasp, the force of a heavy fire-fist lifted him clean off his feet. The world tilted as he hit the concrete, bouncing once as the impact sent him screaming and skidding across the concrete of Atlas Plaza. The blue fabric of his gi tore as he fought for balance, shoes scraping hard against the stone while blue sparks shed off his aura.

Oh shi—

“Get him!”

Not today! Sky twisted in mid-air, refusing to let his back hit the ground again, ignoring the screaming of his bruised ribs. Gloved palms slammed flat onto rushing pavement, momentum carrying him into a sliding handstand. For a second, he was almost frozen; muscles coiled tight like a loaded spring.

The Hellion who had punched him — the big guy with the demon mask — leaped at him with a roar and fists blazing, looking to finish the job.

Sky just grinned upside down.

He launched off his hands, pushing all his energy into his arms. In a surge of blue, both feet became a flying upward javelin double-kicking the gangster right in the jaw.

The impact was a gunshot of bone cracking loud. The massive Hellion flipped back head over heels in a trail of spit and blood. By the time Sky bounded back to his feet in a kip-up, the Hellion had crashed to the ground. Hell yeah!

Sky stood there, chest heaving as he pulled in desperate lungfuls of air. The blue light around his arms sputtered with each breath, dimming for a terrifying second.

A second later, it flared all the way back to life as he flexed his hands into fists.

His chest burned.

His ribs stung.

His knuckles were bleeding through his gloves.

He felt absolutely untouchable.

"C'mon!" Sky hopped from foot to foot, blue burning brighter as he wiped a fresh drop of blood from his split lip. "Y'all want some more? I got all day!"

He spun around, fists raised and ready as he faced the wall of orange-red rushing right at h—

– – – – – – – – 0 – – – – – – – –

Sky blinked as the smell of ozone and burning asphalt vanished, replaced by the scent of freshly cut grass and imported mulch. 

Not Atlas Park. He was in Torrance.

Torrance. The hero let out a ragged hiss slow through his teeth, both feet standing low on the manicured lawn he’d just jumped twelve feet down onto. Blue eyes slid up to the oversized oak tree that had been the reason behind this whole mission, Sky simply shaking his head. So, these are the jobs heroes do here.

It didn’t seem fair.

It didn’t seem right.

But… this is my life now.

The ‘hero’ looked down to where a little boy in a backwards baseball cap was staring up at him, hiding behind his mother’s leg as she gave Sky an awkward smile for obvious reasons.

Never seen scars before? With a sigh, Sky held his hand out, the red balloon he’d just retrieved from the upper branches still in his grip. “Here you go, lil man.”

He did his best to soften his face as he bent down to look the kid in the eye, trying to channel the sixteen-year-old he used to be.

“Your balloon."

He smiled. 

It was a mistake.