(Back at the Spark’s apartment, during late afternoon, Focus and the Sparks’s fight is suddenly interrupted when Mistrick walks into the open door of the apartment, glancing at her polished nails in awe, but then she notices the chaos going on with a baffled expression, while the others glance at her with perplexed eyes, while Flare smirks, glancing at the cracking chains and realizing that it’s time.)
Mistrick: (baffled) Um… what did I miss?
Flare: (smirking) YOLO!
(The others turn to her and are alerted by her voice, and to everyone’s shock, the area underneath her legs starts to glow, and she propels herself off the chair and through the roof with the flames underneath her legs, all while shattering the chains and cuffs that held her back, while the others glance up in disbelief as she regains her balance midair, a wide smirk forming on her face.)
The cuffs were forged from reinforced steel, designed to withstand brute force, but no metal is immune to nature’s simplest law: heat makes it expand, cold makes it contract. Flare understood this. By superheating the metal with her flames, she caused the cuffs to swell, their rigid structure straining under the sudden growth. Then, without warning, she cut off the heat. The surrounding air rushed to cool the metal, forcing it to contract violently. Repeating this cycle of rapid expansion and contraction built tiny fractures within the cuffs, weakening them from the inside. By the time she gave one final, forceful pull, the metal no longer had the strength to resist — it shattered in her hands, undone not by strength alone, but by the very physics it was built upon.
(The others glance up in disbelief as she regains her balance midair, a wide smirk forming on her face. She propels herself with the flames underneath her legs once again away from the scene, making a run for it.)
Stone: (gritting his teeth) We can’t let her escape! Boltix! Mistrick!
Boltix: On it!
Mistrick: (nonchalantly, glancing at her polished nails) At least wait for my nails to dry up.
Boltix: (annoyed, pulling her along) Nobody cares!
(Boltix pulls Mistrick along and propels himself with her using his Kinetic Surge through the now-shattered ceiling and after Flare, while Stone and Jackpot stand in Focus’s way, who grits his teeth at them. The two lunge at Focus, who gets in behind them and kicks Stone in the back, sending him skidding. He blocks another blow from Jackpot and exchanges quick blows with Stone, eventually receiving a punch in the face and getting sent skidding back.)
Focus: (thinking to himself, gritting his teeth) The Beacon is getting away. If I don’t act, she’ll either hide off again or get recaptured. I’m also in enough trouble since I lost contact with Aegis. To escape the Sparks and get to the bottom of this… I see only one course of action.
(Focus promptly blocks several projectiles launched at him from the pot attached to Jackpot’s back then turns to the apartment’s window and jumps off of it, to Stone and Jackpot’s shock.)
Jackpot: What the — ?!
(They glance through the window left and right but notice that he’s nowhere to be seen. Realizing that he’s run off after Flare as well, they immediately head downstairs to the garage, with Stone getting into his Jeep and Jackpot opening the garage door. He pulls out a pair of rocket-powered rollerskates from the pot attached to his back and quickly puts them on. As the garage door opens, the two nod at each other and drive off, Jackpot in his roller skates and Stone in his car. Meanwhile, Focus heads for the alley in which he parked his police motorcycle, and he immediately gets on it and drives off into the streets to catch up with Flare and her pursuers. Meanwhile, Flare runs through the crowd on the sidewalk, attempting to blend in with them. She looks around as she keeps on running, seeing no one close by.)
Flare: (smirking) Pfft, they can’t catch up.
(However, Mistrick drops in among the crowd and stands in her way, forming her black mist the moment her legs touch the ground, to Flare’s shock as well as the civilians’, who get caught up in the mist. Boltix drops in as well, amplifying his legs as to unleash a shockwave upon landing, which sends the civilians away from sight and clearing the way for them to confront Flare.)
Flare: (unamused) Said no one ever. Aren’t you at least concerned about making a scene?
Boltix: (smirking) Look who’s talking.
(Boltix propels himself at Flare for a punch, forcing her to block that blow and get sent flying, while the civilians submerged in the mist glance at the ongoing chaos in bafflement. Even the traffic activity at the area is put to an abrupt end, with several drivers having to brake and glance around at the scene in shock and a few collisions occurring as a result. As Focus heads to the scene, he sees the mist surrounding a specific area in the streets ahead of him.)
Focus: There.
(Inside the mist, Flare regains her footing, barely dodging another blow from Boltix, who strikes a wall instead. Her movement is noticeably slower, however, and as Boltix propels himself upwards and launches a lighting bolt at her, she propels himself upwards at him while canceling out his bolt with a fireball, moving in on him for a blow. However, the difference in speed is apparent, and Boltix beats her to the punch, sending her crashing into a house. She gets back up on her feet, seeing a family of two parents and a young girl glancing at her in shock with their television on.)
Flare: (chuckling nervously) You look like a nice family. Hope you don’t mind me “crashing” at your place.
(Boltix dashes at her once again, sending her crashing through the wall and out of the house, and the family duck in cover with all of the chaos going on. As Flare gets back up outside in an alley, she finds several mist copies of Mistrick surrounding her, with the real Mistrick leaning on a wall and scrolling on her phone.)
Flare: (unamused, crossing her arms) Not gonna even bother dealing with me yourself? How classy of you.
Mistrick: (nonchalantly, glancing at her nails) My nails haven’t dried yet. I’m only here to set up the mist, slow down your movement, and let my clones do all the work.
(Flare propels herself upwards with the flames underneath her legs, but the thickness of the fog slows her down, and one of Mistrick’s copies dashes at her and kicks her in the chin, sending her flying. Another copy reappears behind her and kicks her in the back, sending her plummeting into the streets. Before she fully regains her balance, Boltix propels himself at her with incredible speed for a blow. However, just when his energized fist was about to land, he gets struck by a motorcycle ahead of him, sending him tumbling down the street, and the person driving that motorcycle is none other than Focus, to Flare’s shock.)
Flare: (shocked) You again?!
Focus: (firmly) It’s Flare, right?
Flare: Yeah, and if I remember correctly, you said that you’re Focus.
Focus: Listen, right now we’re both targets, and I’ve lost contact with my agency, so for your own sake and mine, get in.
Flare: (crossing her arms) And I should trust you because…?
Focus: We’ll strike a deal later. Right now, we gotta get outta here.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
(Flare sighs deeply then smirks at this, excitedly hopping into the motorcycle and behind Focus. Boltix gets back up on his feet and propels himself at the two, but Focus repeatedly drifts in circles with his motorcycle, forming a blinding smoke that disorients Boltix and makes him miss the blow. Focus then takes a sharp turn to the right and drives off with his motorcycle, Flare placing her hands around his waist and holding on to him. Several copies of Mistrick lunge at them, but Flare quickly launches a barrage of fireballs to destroy them, and Focus grabs one by the wrist and throws it away. The two escape the black mist, leaving Boltix and Mist inside. Boltix grits his teeth as he sees them leaving, while Mistrick joins him, glancing at her dried nails with a faint, satisfied grin.)
Mistrick: (grinning) Okay, my nails are finally dried up. Time to kick some butt!
Boltix: (turning to Mistrick, unamused) Right on time, Mistrick. They got away.
Mistrick: (raising an eyebrow) What do you mean “they”?
Boltix: Just cancel out the mist. It’s useless now. I’m going after them.
(Mistrick sighs deeply and raises her palm up, canceling out her black mist, which condenses into a black cloud in her palm that she shuts off. The civilians glance up at the sky in shock, seeing their surroundings reverting back to normal. Boltix then propels himself upwards to a rooftop, heading after Flare and Focus, while Mistrick crosses her arms and leans on a wall, only to see Jackpot dashing through the streets in his rocket-powered roller skates, also heading after the duo. Stone follows him in his Jeep, while Mistrick just glances at them in surprise. Meanwhile, Flare and Focus drive into the traffic with the latter’s motorcycle, overtaking vehicles with ease.)
Flare: (grinning) That’s smooth! Who taught you how to drive?
Focus: (deadpan) Instinct and adrenaline.
Flare: (annoyed) Would you stop playing it cool already?!
Focus: (blankly) I don’t pretend to be cool. I just am.
Flare: (sighing deeply) So… where are we heading?
Focus: Who knows?
(Suddenly, a small rocket is launched at them from behind, and Flare quickly destroys it with her fiery fist. She and Focus turn to see Jackpot chasing after them with his rocket-powered roller skates and overtaking vehicles. The creation pot attached to his back launches another rocket projectile at the duo, specifically meant to strike a wheel, but Focus shifts to the right and overtakes that missile.)
Focus: (gritting his teeth) Guess we’ve still got work to do.
(Suddenly, a Jeep car arrives beside the motorcycle, the driver being none other than Stone, who glances at Focus through gritted teeth. He attempts to crash into the motorcycle, but Focus quickly pulls the brakes to avoid the collision, and that allows Stone to set his car ahead of Focus’s motorcycle, blocking his way.)
Flare: (turning around, seeing Jackpot closing in and gritting her teeth) He’s closing in on us!
Focus: Listen, once I give you the nod, you’ll propel us upwards with your palms. (glancing at her) Can you do that?
(Flare lights up her palms with fire, faintly smirking at him, and with an unamused expression, he sets his eyes back on the road. He looks ahead and notices that they’re approaching a red light, with the traffic ahead of them put into a halt, the opportunity he’s been waiting for. He quickly sidesteps to the left and performs a wheelie with the front wheel, and Stone attempts to block his way.)
Focus: (urgently) Now!
(Flare puts her hands down and uses the flames from her palms to propel the two of them upwards, overtaking both Stone and the traffic ahead of them. She quickly latches onto Focus as he performs a front flip with his motorcycle and manages to stick the landing and keep going, to Stone and Jackpot’s shock.)
Stone: (gritting his teeth) You can’t be serious!
(Stone activates the turbo pumps in his Jeep and dashes through the vehicles, getting them out of his way and running past the red light. Jackpot jumps past the vehicles, using his rocket-powered roller skates to boost himself. Upon landing, he takes off at high speed after Flare and Focus.)
Jackpot: Okay, what next? Hmm… maybe a bat or something? That’ll be cool.
(As Jackpot gives it everything to catch up with Flare and Focus, with Flare turning to him and glaring at him through gritted teeth, he extends his hand to receive a sword from his creation pot. However, he ends up receiving a bat, as in the animal, which flies at his face and almost causes him to lose balance, to both his and Flare’s bafflement.)
Flare: (raising an eyebrow) Um… was I supposed to be expecting something?
Jackpot: (muttering in annoyance) Stupid pot. I meant a baseball bat!
(This time, he pulls out a baseball bat from his creation pot, then he closes in on Flare, swinging his bat at her. She blocks it with a burst of fire, sending him skidding back, then Focus makes a sharp turn to the left with the motorcycle, furthering the distance between him and his pursuers. However, Jackpot quickly puts on a pair of gauntlets launched at him by his creation pit then launches a rope with one, wrapping it around a lamppost, which helps him gain momentum as he drifts. Upon releasing that rope, he is launched straight at Flare and Focus, then he launches another rope that wraps itself around Flare’s neck.)
Jackpot: (smirking) Got her!
(He then stands firm and pulls Flare towards him, who — immediately upon noticing the rope around her neck — gets yanked off the backseat and pulled towards Jackpot. However, Focus reacts quickly, barely grabbing her foot with one hand and steering with the other, pulling Jackpot along, who still has a firm grip on the rope regardless. As they head for an overpass, Focus’s motorcycle is slightly and gradually being held back, while Jackpot struggles to assume a firm stance in this game of tug of war. The fierce contention tightens the rope around Flare’s neck, causing her to suffocate.)
Flare: (suffocating) This… is… awkward.
(Stone takes advantage of this and speeds up to catch up with Focus, intending to crash into him from his right, but the latter sets his foot off the accelerator, simultaneously easing the rope off Flare’s neck and avoiding the collision. He manages to keep the motorcycle on the ground instead of having it spiral off balance, while Jackpot keeps getting dragged by the motorcycle and attempting to seize Flare, who is suffocating by the rope around her neck between the two. In pure desperation and through gritted teeth, she grabs the rope and lights up her hands, attempting to burn the rope.)
Flare: (thinking to herself, gritting her teeth) Just burn already, damn rope!
(Stone pulls his foot off the accelerator in an attempt to crash into Focus, who remains behind him, but he quickly shifts to the right, all while still holding Flare’s foot without ever letting go. He grits his teeth as he sees Jackpot behind him and Stone beside him, and as the latter attempts to collide into him, he’s forced to pull his leg off the accelerator and go back, getting him even closer to Jackpot, who starts to pull Flare closer to him.)
Focus: (urgently) Flare! Use your palm!
(Flare listens to that and lowers her left palm while lighting it up with fire, all while grabbing the rope with her right hand, still attempting to burn the rope. As Stone pulls the brakes on his car to position himself beside Focus and crash into him, Flare finally burns the rope to ashes with a loud grunt then — in a mere split second — uses her other palm to propel herself upwards, with Focus — still grabbing her leg — pulling her closer before letting go. Just as Stone was about to collide with his motorcycle, he jumps off and grabs Flare’s hand, who propels both of them upwards into the sky once again with the flames underneath her legs, leaving the motorcycle to collide with the car . In this single moment, Flare manages to set herself free — which simultaneously sends Jackpot flying backwards and tumbling down the overpass — and pull both her and Focus out of trouble, to Stone’s anger.)
Stone: (furiously) What the hell?!
(Stone stops the car and glances at the duo taking off, gritting his teeth. Meanwhile, Flare’s flames finally give out, and after they reach quite a considerable height, certainly becoming out of sight, they start to fall, Flare yelling in panic as that happens. Boltix — who has been jumping from rooftop to rooftop all this time to chase after them — gets ready to propel himself upwards at them, energizing his fist to deal a blow to them, but he experiences a severe pain in his legs, which limits the distance he covers, making him unable to reach the duo; the repeated and frequent usage of his Kinetic Surge — all without breaks — has put a massive strain on his body.)
Boltix: (thinking to himself, wincing in pain) No! Why now?!
(Wincing in pain and through gritted teeth, he swipes his hand to launch a thunderbolt at the duo before falling into a rooftop, and Flare quickly uses a fireball to shield both her and Focus, sending them both flying further regardless, except this time pulling them apart. As they fall from such a great height, Focus attempts to reach Flare, extending his hand to her, and she does so as well. With the last bit of strength she has left, she uses her legs — which were already under strain from her repeated propulsion — to propel herself at Focus one last time with a small push, and he manages to grab her hand as they close in on impact.)
Flare: (yelling in panic, to Focus) If you’ve got anything up your sleeve, please do it before we go splat!
(Focus grits his teeth as he tries to think of something, but then he sees that he’s about to fall on the ground, so in a split-second decision, he throws Flare away from here, and the deceleration involved with it softens her landing, and he places his hand on the ground, making it function as a pivot, then — mere microseconds upon impact — acrobatically flips his body, helping him roll on the ground with minimal damage, eventually ending up beside an exhausted Flare. They both pant heavily in exhaustion and relief, having just made it out of a most thrilling chase and completed their getaway.)
